Northern Cross Pretty Cure
by garooob
Summary: The balance of good and chaos is in danger! The Chaos Dragons are attacking Earth! Can the Northern Cross Pretty Cure stop them? Rated T, contains violence, intense scenes
1. Episode 1, part 1

Northern Cross Pretty Cure Episode 1

Opening song: Onegai Precure, Northern † Cross!

* * *

The chimes rang at Mizuwa Middle School and the students began packing up. Teiko Hakucho chatted with some of her classmates as they walked to the gate, then they said goodbye and parted ways. A fall breeze blew her black hair around, which she kept chin-length so it would mostly stay away from her glasses, and she smiled, knowing that cooler weather was coming. The sun warmed her as she walked and she tried to stay out of the shadows, since she hadn't brought a coat. A plane flew low overhead, on its way to the airport in the north of town. Teiko noted the carrier and that it was otherwise unremarkable, aside from the fact that this immense vehicle was hundreds of feet off the ground.

Teiko's house wasn't very far from school, so she walked daily. Since there were both residential and business districts in between, she had her choice of routes to take and liked to try out different paths. Today however, she was returning home by her favorite route. She passed by the ramen shop where a bird had built its nest under an awning. There were no occupants now, but come spring, tiny heads would be poking out and peeping noisily. There was the alley where cats, both stray and owned liked to congregate. The park with sakura trees where they had flower viewing parties. The house with the tiny dog that would come running out barking wildly and follow you on its side of the fence as you passed. Satisfied it had defended its territory from you, the dog would trot back to the house. And finally she came to her apartment building. The Hakucho apartment was small, especially for five people. "I'm home," Teiko announced as she entered.

"Welcome home," her mother, Akiko, responded from the kotatsu. She was working on her laptop and had papers all over the table.

"Teiko! Welcome home!" came a shout from around the hallway corner, followed by a younger girl.

"Hi Harumi," said Teiko. Harumi came to stop right in front of her big sister and stood with her hands behind her back, grinning. "You're energetic. Did something good happen today?"

Harumi jumped on her and gave her a big hug. "My big sis came home from school today, that's what happened!"

"But I come home from school every day," Teiko said, smiling. Harumi detached herself.

"I don't know!" Harumi made a face and stuck out her tongue. "Do you have time to play before you have to do your homework?" Teiko's workload was light today, and she answered as such. "Yay! Come on!" Akiko just watched, smiling at her daughters. As they played in their room, she put away her work and began preparing dinner.

Teiko played with Harumi until it was time to eat, when their mother served grilled fish with vegetable salad, miso soup and rice. A simple meal, but made with love.

After dinner, the two girls began their work, too. Teiko unpacked her bag and spread her things out on her desk, while Harumi joined their mother at the kotatsu. Soon, Teiko heard another girl's voice along with the opening and closing of the front door.

"I'm home," it said, sounding tired.

"Welcome home," replied Harumi and their mother. Teiko looked at the digital clock on the desk opposite hers, saw that the time was almost seven, stood and stretched. She had been so focused that she hasn't noticed the passage of time, but it paid off, as she was almost done. Teiko walked into the living room and greeted her older sister.

"Hi Ayumi." Ayumi was sitting at the kitchen table, eating her reheated dinner. She grunted in response, finished chewing her food, swallowed and washed it down with a drink of water.

"Teiko, don't go to college. It's too much work to get in. In fact, don't go to high school, either. Cram school isn't worth it." Teiko gave a tolerant, indulgent smile, but knew her sister didn't mean it.

"Ayumi," said their mother, disapprovingly.

"I know. It's just that I'm so busy. I wish I had a minute to do something that I want to for once."

"After the mock exam, you'll have some free time. I know things are hard right now, but you'll be thankful you put in the hard work, later."

Ayumi sighed. "I know, mom."

"You can use the bath first tonight, if you want," Teiko offered. Ayumi gave her a warm smile, knowing how important of a gesture this was; Teiko loved a hot bath. That in itself seemed to energize her and she sat up straighter.

"Ok then, right after dinner I'm hitting the books, then it's a hot bath for me! You'd better not go back on that promise!" Akiko rolled her eyes.

"Don't worry," Teiko said, smiling and walking back to their room to finish her own work. As she walked in, Ayumi called down the hall.

"Thank you!"

Teiko finished her homework in an extra good mood, bolstered by her interactions with her family. Just after the sun had set, she heard her father return home and be greeted by her mother and Harumi. She gave them a few moments to talk before coming out of her room and standing in the entrance to the hallway.

"Hi, dad," she said. He turned to her as he set his briefcase down by the kitchen table.

"Oh, hi there, Teiko. How was your day?"

She could see that he was exhausted; even more so than Ayumi. He almost always had to work late, but he never failed to ask his daughters how they were doing. Spending what little time he had with his family was her father's way of relaxing and she knew that if he didn't get to, he'd probably never stop thinking about work, so she stepped forward to talk with him. Teiko recounted her day while her mother served her father dinner and he ate.

"Harumi, Ayumi's done with the bath, so it's your turn now," said Akiko. Harumi agreed and picked up her drawings.

"Good night, daddy!" she said and gave him a hug before running off to the girls' room, almost hitting Ayumi, who had been coming out to the living room in her pyjamas while still drying her long hair with her bath towel.

"Hi, dad," she said.

"Hi Ayu," he replied. Ayumi had long learned to accept the nickname her dad used because despite her efforts to the contrary, he was not about to quit using it. "How was cram school?"

"The same as usual."

"I know it's a lot of work, but you're doing a great job. You'll be thankful you stuck with it one day when you're a marine biologist." Teiko's father was clearly proud of his daughters.

"Yeah. Thanks, dad. I'm working hard." Ayumi smiled.

"Just like your old man!" Their father laughed.

"I should get back to my work, goodnight mom, dad," Ayumi said and hugged both her parents before returning to the girls' shared room with their best wishes for the night. Mother and father now turned their attention to Teiko.

"I need to get ready for bed," she said.

"Well, have a good day tomorrow," her dad said with a lopsided smile. "Sorry I couldn't spend more time with you."

"I understand," Teiko said, and she did; he worked hard for the family. His job paid well, but he had three children in school, plus the rent from their small apartment and all the other bills. Their mother's part time job provided spending money for the family and not much else. But they were a happy family and Teiko thought about how thankful she was to have them, based on what she'd heard from some of her classmates, as she put a foot into the now tepid water which occupied the tiny tub. She immediately retracted the smile and decided against the bath. She'd get warmer water just washing up anyway. The bath, or lack thereof, didn't keep her down and, once she was dressed, quickly but quietly climbed up to the top bunk above one sleeping sister and opposite another working by desk light. Teiko spent some time reading a fantasy novel she had checked out of the library which featured a woman holding her arm out for a large bird of prey to perch upon on the cover, until her eyes began to close on their own. Then she pulled the blankets up to her chin and snuggled in next to her pink bunny and other stuffed animals and drifted off to the note familiar sound of pencil on paper.

* * *

The digital clock on Ayumi's desk announced the beginning of another day in its own jarring fashion. Ayumi hit the snooze button, but Harumi and Teiko were up.

"Good morning." Akiko was preparing breakfast for three; their father had left for work long before the sun rose.

"Good morning," her daughters replied, taking their seats.

"Did you have any dreams?" Harumi asked excitedly. "I dreamed that I was playing soccer at school, but the sky was purple! And then, well, I don't know if we won, but then we were having a pizza party and the pizza was like this big." She held her arms as wide as they could go for emphasis. "No, bigger!"

"Harumi, if you keep talking about pizza, your eggs are going to think you don't want them," their mother joked. Harumi ate an enthusiastic mouthful in response. While Harumi was occupied with breakfast, Teiko took the opportunity to bring up her own dream.

"I think I had the dream about the fountain again," she said, pensively chewing on some toast with jam. Her mother made an interested noise and she continued. "I'm wearing this big, purple princess dress and I'm in a European castle. It's partially bare stone and partly decorated really fancily. I walk around and find this huge fountain in the middle of the hall. It's a swan carved out of stone, and the water is coming out of its beak. And then I just stand there and look at it."

"Yeah, I remember this. You told us about this before," said Harumi.

"But that's not it," Teiko paused. Her mother and sister turned to look at her. She had told them about this exact dream before, but it had always ended there. "As I was standing there, the swan's eye turned to look at me."

"Creepy," said Harumi, after a moment, chopsticks halfway to her mouth.

"Well, it was just a dream." Teiko took another bite of toast. Harumi was wrong, though; it wasn't creepy. She had felt like the statue had wanted to ask her something and wondered what would have happened if the alarm hadn't gone off.

When they finished their breakfast, Teiko returned to their room to prepare for school as Ayumi was just getting out of bed.

"Good morning," Teiko said. Ayumi grunted in reply and shuffled off to eat. Teiko hadn't expected a reply because she knew that her sister was not at all a morning person, but giggled to herself at Ayumi's response anyway. Teiko dressed in her Mizuwa uniform and got ready for school. She packed up her things, picked up her bag and exited the room.

"Bye mom, bye Harumi, bye Ayumi."

"Bye honey. Have a good day at school."

"Bye Teiko! Keep an 'eye' out for the swan!" Harumi chuckled. Ayumi waved with the knife she had been using to spread jam on the piece of toast that would soon follow the one already in her mouth, now that she was running late.

The morning was cool, and the shadows notably longer than last week. Teiko went back inside and got a jacket. Since that set her back a few minutes, she decided to take a more direct route to school. As she walked down the main street, she looked in the various shop windows and watched glimpses of their opening preparations. The sun warmed her, but she knew that soon, even this jacket wouldn't be enough. Trees were displaying their bright yellow and red autumn plumage, like giant peacocks lining the road. A flock of birds was flying overhead as... they...

Teiko came to a stop, staring at the birds. There was nothing notable about most of them, but one was different. This bird's light bluish plumage stood out against the common blackbirds and was quite a bit larger. That long neck, was it a crane? Teiko watched the flock as they flew out of sight, over the buildings of town and presumably into the trees between town and the lake which laid due west. Teiko made a mental note about where she thought the birds might have gone and considered trying to find the crane after school.

* * *

When the bell rang, Teiko packed up her bags as usual, but headed west when she left instead of east. The day had progressed surprisingly fast; Teiko had applied herself to her studies as usual, but found herself looking out the window at the bright blue sky more often than she should. None of her friends had seen the crane on their walks to school this morning, even those she knew to live west of school. And so she walked around the back of the school and continued west, passing through neighborhoods until they finally ended and the forest took over. A small park served as the border between worlds; a sort of compromise between green and grey. No one was there now and she didn't see any animals, either. Teiko and her sisters had played there from time to time, when visiting friends on this side of town or when they needed a change of scenery from the local park, since this was the second closest to their apartment.

Teiko passed the swings, slide and jungle gym and found the beaten path into the woods. Some brush obscured the beginnings as it was an unofficial path, but she knew it wandered all the way to the lake, so she moved the bushes aside and entered the woods. Teiko hadn't been this way in months, but once she was a few steps in, she remembered how much she enjoyed the forest. Though the deciduous canopy almost completely enclosed the forest floor, enough light managed to slip through to give it a cheerful light green color. Or it did, when she had walked to the lake in the spring. Now, the green was replaced with a yellow that was surprisingly bright in places where leaves had already begun to fall. The colorful environment put a smile on Teiko's face as she walked.

The thought occurred to Teiko that she should take out her phone so that she could take a picture of the crane in the event that it was actually around here, so she removed the phone from her bag, flipped it open and activated the camera before continuing. Ahead, she could see the first blue specks of the lake through the trees and knew that there was a nice large rock outcropping where she'd sometimes stop and rest nearby. The rock was to the right of the path and when she came to it, she brushed a few leaves off, set her bag down and sat.

It was such a nice day! Even if she didn't find the crane, the view of the lake would still make the trip worth it. She could take some pictures of the leaves and the water and show them to her mom. Her phone had gone to sleep, so she woke it back up, opened her pictures and flipped through them. The most recent ones were of last Sunday afternoon, which she had spent walking around the shopping arcade with her friends. Teiko browsed these at a leisurely pace with the knowledge that she had time to do so. Within the span of a few minutes, though, her fingers began to get cold in the autumn air and since she had no gloves, so she decided to go -

When she caught a glimpse of blue flutter down to the forest floor behind some trees not too far from where she sat. What good luck! The bird was out of sight, so Teiko slowly and quietly stood up and tiptoed towards the cluster of trees. She could hear leaves rustling and peered out from around the side of the tree she had hidden behind. The bird looked smaller than a crane and the blue hue of its feathers wasn't like any cranes she knew of, but even if it wasn't a crane, it was still something interesting. Maybe the science teacher could help her identify it. As she watched, the bird swung its head from side to side, as if looking for something, which it seemingly failed to find. Whether disappointed or satisfied at that thing's absence, the bird settled down at the base of a tree and tucked its beak under its wing. Teiko reactivated the camera on her phone and held it up, waited for it to focus, then pressed the shutter button.

K-chck!

At that moment, Teiko realized she hadn't turned the sound on her phone off and froze, hoping the bird had been oblivious to the noise. Instead, its eyes snapped open and immediately focused on Teiko, half hidden behind a tree trunk. A split second passed in stillness when their eyes locked before the bird leapt up from where it sat and spun its body around to completely face her, never looking away the entire time.

"You'll never catch me!" The bird squawked in a high pitched voice, pointing a wing at the middle school aged girl.

"It talked?" Teiko whispered as sweat beads formed on her face. In what seemed like an hour, Teiko continued to stare at the bird while wondering if she should run.

"Wait, you're not chaotic," the bird said, lowering its guard. Teiko wondered again if she should run. "I need help!" The bird continued. "Actually, the Earth needs help." Something inside Teiko still insisted that she run, but she didn't feel threatened at all by this strange, taking bird and so, deadlocked, remained frozen in place as sweat rolled down her face. "The balance of Earth is about to be thrown into chaos! I was sent here to recruit defenders to protect that balance and our research shows that on Earth, that would be the Legendary Warriors Pretty Cure. Are you a Pretty Cure?" Teiko just continued to stare at the bird, which shuffled a little. "Uh, hello?"

"It's so cute!" Teiko breathed.

"Ack!" The bird nearly fell over. "Did you listen to anything I said?" It shouted in an even squeaker voice.

"I'm being chastised by a talking bird!" Teiko said.

"I'm a swan. A swan fairy, to be exact," said the bird, looking proud.

"Oh!" She raised her phone and snapped some more pictures.

"Listen to me!"

"Earth is in danger and you need to find some Destiny Warriors?" Teiko said.

"Legendary Warriors Pretty Cure!" the swan shouted, then paused to regain its composure. "If you've never heard of them, then maybe they're not active." The swan's eye turned to look hard at Teiko. She flinched and let out a small gasp at the familiarity of this scene. "Would you become a Pretty Cure?"

Teiko opened her mouth, but then pulled back. This could be her chance to live out one of the fantasy novels she enjoyed reading, but... It seemed too good to be true. Through those same books, she had learned to be careful of what she wished for, since you might not get what you expect. Teiko narrowed her eyes and glared at the swan, which caused it to flinch in turn.

"You're awfully suspicious. How do I know you're not the bad guy?" she demanded. The swan fidgeted nervously and began to sweat.

"The Cygnus sends us to worlds where the balance is in danger of being upset! It's really -" The swan stopped abruptly and though she was still a distance away, Teiko saw the feathers on its back rise. "Chaos! Something chaotic has appeared!" it squawked, and spun around to look behind itself. Teiko, too, looked around, but saw nothing moving, though somehow she could feel a oppressive force she couldn't explain that made her uneasy. Finally, she clapped her phone shut and stuffed it in her pocket while sprinting towards the swan, who, if there was something out there, was a sitting duck waiting for it. Her left hand closed over the swan's beak and she scooped it up in her right arm, pivoted while noting how light it was and fled to the far side of the rock outcropping, where there was a little more protection. She slid to a stop and sat down with the swan in her lap and her back to the rock. There they sat for a few minutes which Teiko thought should have been terrifying, but aside from her blood pumping loudly in her ears, nothing sounded and nothing moved. The presumably chaotic force the swan alluded to eventually faded and disappeared. Teiko loosened her grip on the swan's beak and it sighed, then she did the same.

"What was that?" She whispered.

"Well, judging from the amount of chaotic power it had, that must have been a member of the Chaotic Dragons. They're the ones who keep trying to destroy balance and the Cygnus' arch nemesis."

A thought came to Teiko then. "If it's gone away, then we should use this time to get out of here. But... Where can I take a talking blue swan?"

"No, the Chaos Dragon might be able to sense us if we move around too much." The two looked at each other for a moment.

"Well as long as we're waiting here, I'm going to ask you questions," Teiko declared.

Seeing an opportunity to convince Teiko of its position, the swan nodded enthusiastically.

"Who are the Chaos Dragons and why are they here?"

"When the stars were born, everything was in balance. But at some point, dragons came along and tried to upset that balance, because they thrive on Chaos Energy. The Cygnus, the keeper of balance, managed to beat them back, but they eventually regrouped and attacked again. Each time, The Cygnus has successfully defeated them, but now they're sending their warriors out to other worlds. The Cygnus can't go to these worlds and leave its nest unguarded, so it sends us, its Cygnets, to recruit local heroes in the fashion of that particular world (in this case, Legendary Warriors Pretty Cure) to fight the Chaos Dragons and protect their own home."

Teiko took a moment to digest this. "So you think I should be a Pretty Cure? But I'm only 13."

"Age doesn't matter; you can still make a difference. With the power of Pretty Cure, you can definitely defeat them!" the swan said.

"Oh really?" Came a deep, amused voice and with it, the return of the oppressive force from earlier, but so much stronger than before. Teiko stood up, still holding the swan, and looked for the source of the dreadful voice. When she found it, Teiko made a small noise, her mind reeled and her vision blurred as tears of panic erupted from her eyes. She stumbled backwards and tripped over nothing, fell on her butt and rolled into her back, then scrambled back away from the monster, pushing futilely against the loose leaves with her feet and free hand until the back of her head touched the bark of a nearby tree. On the top of the rock formation where she had sat just minutes before, stood something impossible. It looked like a human in that it had two arms, two legs and one head, but the head was well over two meters off the ground and had a long snout which was equipped with knife-like teeth. Beneath the military-like uniform it wore, the creature was covered in red-brown scales instead of skin, and its eyes glowed a faint red in the indirect light. Teiko thought the expression on its face was one of wicked amusement.

"Chaos Dragon," the swan whimpered. Teiko had to look away from it to regain control of her mind. Suddenly, she twisted her body around, jumped up and sprinted away as fast as she could. Her heart felt it would burst right through her chest or at the very least, she'd throw up everything she had eaten for lunch; maybe more. The swan was wiggling around in her arms, which wasn't helping and she held it tighter in response.

Teiko was never on the track team in school, but her classes had always voted her into the sports festival relay races and her speed played a significant role in their victories. It came as a surprise then, when the scaly thing essentially appeared next to her and with one hand, knocked her completely off her feet. She didn't remember letting go of the blue swan, but the swan was not there to break her fall when she landed painfully on her right shoulder and rolled, back over front. As she rolled, her right arm caught on the ground and twisted the elbow behind her back. Teiko had screamed upon impact and was now certain that in between her sobs, she would throw up.

"We were warned the Cygnus might send someone after us, but this is it?" The dragon now held the swan by its long neck, but loose enough that it was not being choked as it struggled.

"Girl! Grab the brooch and say, 'Precure Take Flight!'" The little swan shouted. Teiko looked around frantically, adjusting the glasses, which had caught in her hair and were thus saved from being knocked off her head in the fall.

"You mean this thing?" the dragon said. Teiko saw where he was looking: There was a sparkle among some leaves lying in a beam of light that had managed to pass through the branches above. As the dragon reached for the object on the ground, Teiko summoned a desperate burst of energy to dive for and snatch it up before her adversary had a chance to. The dragon whipped his head around, glaring at Teiko with brightly glowing eyes. Teiko was crouched opposite him, just out of arm's reach, with tears running down her pale face from her wide eyes, dirt and leaves on her clothes, scrapes on her knees and her right arm held tightly to her body. In her left hand, she held the brooch. The dragon hesitated, and that moment of indecision cost him certain victory. Teiko's arm shot straight up in the air.

"Precure Take Flight!"

* * *

Appearing as a sparkly, light purple silhouette, Teiko lowered her arm and placed the brooch on her chest over her heart. She pulled her arms and legs up against her chest and curled into the fetal position, against the transparent white shadow of an egg. Surrounding all this was a purple background, so dark it was almost black, and tiny points of light. The brooch produced a glow that was white with a bluish tint which intensified as she burst forth through the shell of the egg. The light from the brooch washed everything else out, then receded back into the brooch revealing a Pretty Cure.

"Outshining the sun, the tail that maintains balance, Cure Deneb!"

* * *

Eyecatcher A: Chibi Teiko in a kindergarten rain outfit walks in the rain, followed by a number of colorful cygnets. They splash through a puddle.


	2. Episode 1, part 2

Eyecatcher B: The blue swan swims with a family of ducklings, who sneer and point at it. However, instead of acting the part of the ugly duckling, it checks its reflection in the water and makes a "looking good" face at it. The ducklings are shocked.

* * *

Cure Deneb appeared in front of the dragon, just as surprised to be there as he was too see her. She couldn't help but stare down at the strange, new clothes she was wearing. A fitted shirt with feathers around the short sleeves and shoulders covered her body and had elaborately detailed wings embroidered on the back. Pinned to the front, on her chest, just over her heart; the swan brooch. The crystals, set in a silver metal, were mostly clear, with a few purple gems among them. On her hands, she wore short gloves with a small feather embroidered on the back of the hand; tight-fitting shin-high boots with small wings on the side protected her feet; and the ensemble was completed by a skirt of almost knee length, having feathery frills along the edges and simple bike shorts underneath. All throughout the outfit, light purple rested atop darker purple and was embellished with blue and white accents.

An unwelcome, familiar voice brought her out of her reverie. "What is this? Cure Deneb? So you're this world's champion? Then I'll just eliminate you right here!" The dragon charged her with burning eyes and bared fangs. He threw a punch with the hand that wasn't holding the blue swan and in response, Cure Deneb, who had never been in a fight in all her life, could only throw her arms in front of her face and scream. The softball-sized fist connected with her forearms and to both of their surprise, Cure Deneb was pushed back, but most of the force of the blow was deflected. The dragon jumped back quickly, but Cure Deneb didn't move to counter attack. She looked hard at her opponent, realizing that the transformation had not only brought her additional strength, but her arm no longer hurt and the terror she had felt earlier was greatly diminished.

With a sharp bark, the dragon launched himself at her a second time, though she was able to brace herself for his assault. Moving much more quickly than she ever imagined being able to, Cure Deneb was able to block or dodge the dragon's punches. He jumped back again, switched the swan over to his other hand and scowled. A bead of sweat began to form on his scaly forehead. A third time he attacked with a roar, throwing a powerful but obvious punch, which Cure Deneb was easily able to dodge. The dragon had been at least expecting to be blocked, so without the opposing force from Deneb, his momentum carried him forward past her and he overbalanced. Cure Deneb saw her opportunity.

"Go away!" She shouted as she ran in and, again, having never fought before, threw a punch which, when it connected with the dragon's unprotected side, sent him flying. Deneb watched in amazement as the dragon ricocheted off a tree and skidded to a stop among the fallen leaves. As he did so, he lost his grip on his captive and the bird tumbled to the side.

"Cure Deneb! Help me!" It coughed, but the dragon was back on his feet and scooped the swan up. However, this time, Deneb was already on the way.

"Precure Deneb Illumination!"

As she approached, she had shouted this almost instinctively and released a blinding burst of light which stunned the dragon, but left her with her vision. She continued in and punched the dragon squarely in the solar plexus which caused his face to contort in pain briefly before rocketing backwards with the rest of his body. Cure Deneb gave chase and when he came to a stop, she wrenched his grip away from the swan, picked it up herself and continued running. Soon after, there came a roar even more furious and terrifying than when the dragon had last attacked. As she crashed through the trees and regained the path, she was vaguely aware that her bag was still by the rock, but that thing was still there and she was not going back.

Cure Deneb ran, crying and gasping for breath, unsure if the sounds she was hearing were from her own two feet or something more sinister behind her. As she stumbled through the bushes into the park, something caused a brief flash of light and Teiko realized she was no longer a Pretty Cure. This hardly even slowed her down, but she was considerably more exhausted than while in Cure form. Her legs and head ached, her chest and eyes burned and the fear of what was still in the forest returned, but was also amplified by the fact that she was now unable to defend herself.

"Teiko, where are you go-" she grabbed a hold of the swan's beak to shut him up as she put her head down and walked as fast as she could. She stuck to back roads and alleys when available, trying to avoid detection as much as possible without arousing suspicion. Her glasses kept sliding down her nose, but even when she let go of the swan to adjust them, he remained silent and fearful. Soon enough she arrived at her apartment building and dashed up the three flights of stairs and along the walkway to her home.

Teiko opened the door and quickly walked through the living room and down the hall to the room she shared with her sisters and tossed the swan onto the top bunk where she slept.

"Teiko?" her mother came out of her own room and looked at her daughter at the other end of the hall. She ran to Teiko whose entire body shook from fear and adrenalin. She removed the glasses from the girl's ashen face. "You look terrible!"

"Mom…" Teiko said softly. She began to weep.

"Did something happen?"

"I feel sick."

Akiko led her daughter by the shoulder into the girls' room, where Ayumi, who didn't have cram school today, was camped out at her desk, headphones on, rubbing her forehead over a math problem which was giving her trouble.

"Ayumi, would you please move your homework into the living room?" their mother asked.

Ayumi took off her headphones and turned, sighing out of frustration and only got as far as, "Mom," before she saw her sister's miserable state and her attitude changed. "O-ok." Ayumi quickly packed up her homework.

"Change into your pyjamas and I'll bring you something to eat," Akiko instructed Teiko, and helped Ayumi carry some of her books out, shutting the door behind them. Teiko found the task of unbuttoning her uniform challenging for her shaking hands. The swan peered over the railing of the top bunk, saw what was happening and hastily retreated. Her clothes were no longer as dirty as they were before she transformed and neither did she have scrapes on her hands and legs, but Teiko paid little attention even to her uninjured right arm. The flannel pyjamas felt comforting against Teiko's skin and the covers on her bed accepted her into their warming embrace. Akiko knocked on the door, then entered, carrying a thermometer and a rice ball on a plate.

"Here, open up." Teiko obeyed and her mother took her temperature which read slightly higher than normal. "I'm making some daikon, negi and ginger soup if you'd like some later," she said, handing the plate to Teiko who nodded and took the rice ball. She chewed on it, but found herself unable to swallow and indicated so. Akiko quickly fetched a glass of water, which Teiko used to wash the rice ball down. Though just an ordinary rice ball, the food felt wonderful going down, and relieved some of her nausea. "Go to sleep now." Teiko nodded again and lay down. Akiko drew the blinds on the room's one window and turned the lights off as she left. With tears forming in her eyes, Teiko reached for a stuffed, pink bunny and clutched it tightly like a talisman as silent sobs wracked her small frame until she fell asleep. The swan, unable to offer any comfort and feeling sad for Teiko, nestled down among the other stuffed animals that occupied Teiko's bed, tucked its beak under its wing and joined her in slumber.

* * *

Teiko's eyes opened slowly, focusing as well as they could on the bright room. She was so comfortable and warm in her blankets she didn't want to get up, but- The alarm didn't go off!

"I'm late for school!" She said, and sat up, tossing the blankets off. The clock on her sister's desk displayed 11:21 in large, red numbers. Teiko flopped back down into bed. If she was already that late, would there be a point in going to school? She let her head roll towards the wall and suddenly felt her stomach simultaneously drop and jump into her throat. Sitting on the bed among the stuffed animals next to her was a blue and white swan. The swan scratched the back of its head with a wing.

"How are you feeling, Teiko?" It asked.

Teiko thought for a moment. Then propped herself up on one arm and said "How do you know my name?"

"I overheard your mother helping your sisters get ready for school."

Teiko was silent for a full minute before speaking again. "So everything that happened yesterday was real?" The swan nodded. The balance of earth. The Chaos Dragons. Cure Deneb. Yesterday she had actually fought off a giant dragon-man. Terrifying, yes, but she had done it. Was she the only one who could do this? She didn't answer the question she asked.

The swan continued to sit on the bed and looked around awkwardly, trying not to make eye contact, but turned its face toward Teiko's when she sighed.

"I'm hungry. Please stay here." Teiko climbed down from her bunk and found a pile of clothes folded and placed on her dresser. Her mother had cleaned her uniform and left it there, with the silver swan brooch on top. She slowly picked it up giving herself time to look at it before putting it in her pocket and moving to open the door, which opened before she got there. Her mother stuck her head in.

"Good morning, Teiko. You look better today. How do you feel?" Akiko placed a hand on Teiko's forehead.

"Better."

"Did you throw up?"

Teiko thought back to the fight in the woods. Terror had filled her before her transformation and though it abated while she was Cure Deneb, returned even stronger once she reverted, but at no time did she actually vomit, thankfully. "No."

"That's good. Your clothes were soaked. You must have had a fever all day that broke before you got home. I'm sorry I didn't notice before you went to school," Akiko said.

"No, mom, it's not your fault."

Akiko smiled. "Do you want something to eat? Then you can take a bath." Teiko nodded and followed her mother into the kitchen, where she began to heat up a bowl of broth and toast some bread. "You didn't have your bag with you. Did you leave it somewhere?"

"Oh yeah," Teiko remembered. "Um, maybe at the library," she lied. She could see it lying unattended next to the rock outcropping along the path in the woods.

Though simple, the bread and broth warmed Teiko inside and she felt better after eating. Her mother had drawn a bath, so after breakfast, she walked down the hall to the small apartment's tiny bathroom, stripped and got in the tub to soak for a while. The water was streaming, just the way she liked it. This is what she had missed two days ago. The heat of the freshly drawn bath felt good and she could feel herself relaxing, her mind clearing and strength returning. Once the heat had begun to dissipate, Teiko got out and washed up. She returned to get room, dressed and prepared, then went out to see her mother again.

"Oh, you look like you're almost back to your regular self!" Akiko said, pleasantly surprised.

"I'm feeling better mom, thanks for breakfast and the bath," Teiko said, and hugged her mother tightly, thankful she could see her again after the events of yesterday.

"You're welcome dear. I called the library, but no one turned in a bag. Is there somewhere else you might have left it?" Again, the image of the rocks came to her mind as she pretended to think.

"Maybe it's still at school."

"I hope they can find it, then. You'll be two days behind on homework if you don't get it back today." That thought had not occurred to Teiko, but the knowledge that she was Earth's only hope against the Chaos Dragons was quite a bit more pressing than a late assignment. "Well, I have some errands to run today and if you feel up to it, you can come along. We'll stop by the school and see if we can pick up your homework and bag," said Akiko, beginning to clear the dishes from the table.

"Yeah, I'll go with you," Teiko agreed.

"Why don't you get ready while I finish cleaning up in here."

"Ok mom, thanks for breakfast. I'm going to go back to the bedroom," Teiko said, standing up and taking her plate over to the sink.

"You're welcome."

Teiko closed the bedroom door behind her and stood on the bottom bunk so she could peer onto her own bed. The swan was dozing off, right where she had left it.

"I'm going out with my mom. Please don't go anywhere," she said, softly. The swan yawned and stretched its wings. "So cute…" she whispered.

"Take me with you."

"No, stay here."

"What am I supposed to do? Have a tea ceremony with Usa-pyon and Kuma-kun?" The swan gestured at two stuffed animals nearby.

"That's Gregory and Kuma-SAN, to you," Teiko snapped.

"What if the Chaos Dragon shows up?" said the swan, not missing a beat.

That caused Teiko to pause. "So what, am I going to carry you around in a bag?"

"Sure."

"My bag is in the forest."

"Well what's that?" The swan flapped over to the foot of the bed and pointed a wing towards a messenger bag hanging from a peg on the wall. Teiko stepped down off the bottom bunk, walked over and picked the bag up. There was nothing inside. She gave the swan a stern look.

"Ok. But don't complain if it's uncomfortable. Actually, don't make any sounds at all. I don't want anyone to see you." The swan jumped off the bed and flapped gently down to rest on the bag. Teiko was again surprised by how light it was.

"Don't worry," it said, and slipped inside. "Ok, you can close it." Teiko covered the bag's opening with the flap and secured it with a plastic clip before slinging it over her left arm.

Akiko was waiting in the living room, checking the contents of her purse when Teiko walked in.

"What's the bag for?" she asked, puzzled.

Teiko could feel her face turn red and turned her head to the side in an effort to hide it a little, though she knew it was futile. "It's to put my homework in it when we get it from school."

"You don't think your school bag is there?" her mother asked.

Teiko knew she was definitely red now. "Well, just in case. It's not. I mean."

"Ok." The bag wasn't that big of a deal to her mother, since she let it go and turned to the door. Teiko took a deep breath and exhaled quietly.

* * *

None of the usual folks in the shopping arcade thought anything unusual about Teiko's quietness, especially since she was recovering from an illness, so she was left to her own thoughts while her mom chatted with the store keeps and gossiped with other housewives. Not that there was much to think on; mostly her head was filled with images of the encounter with the Chaos Dragon. The school didn't have Teiko's bag, of course, but she did manage to get her homework. Harumi was already home and watching TV by the time they returned back to the apartment.

"Teiko, are you feeling better?" Harumi asked of her older sister as she followed her back to their room.

"Yes, I am," Teiko replied. She stepped on the first rung of the ladder leading to her bed and softly tossed the messenger bag up, making sure that the flap opened when it landed before stepping back down. "How was school?" Teiko herded her younger sister back into the living room.

"It was good. But I was worried about you. You never get sick." They sat at the kotatsu while a catchy jingle played over images of exploding buildings advertised sandwiches at the local convenience store. Harumi changed the channel.

"I get sick sometimes," Teiko said. "It wasn't a big deal."

"I know! Maybe snuggling a stuffed animal will help you get better. I like to do that when I'm sick." Harumi jumped up and ran back down the hall. Only after she had disappeared around the corner that Teiko remembered…

Harumi returned holding a blue and white swan which was trying hard to remain still, but looked absolutely panicked. Teiko felt the blood drain from her face and sweat form on her forehead.

"Here!" Harumi thrust the swan towards Teiko, who took it gently from her and set it in her lap, below the edge of the kotatsu, as far out of sight as she could manage. "I'll draw a picture of you!" The younger sister sat down opposite of Teiko, pulled her paper and pencil over and began to draw. As Teiko stroked the swan's downy feathers almost absentmindedly, she thought thought, "This is what I have to protect. I have the power of Pretty Cure. I'm the only one who can do it." Her resolve strengthened, Teiko smiled at her sister and mother, and the knot in her stomach loosened now that the decision had been made.

* * *

After dinner, Teiko sat on her bed with the swan.

"How are you feeling, Teiko?"

"That's the same thing you said this morning. I'm sorry we haven't had time to talk today. But to be honest, I'm glad I had the time to think about it." The swan perked up.

"Will you defend earth?"

Teiko's mouth went dry and she swallowed. "I'm the only one who can."

"I'm home." came another voice from the living room as the front door closed. Ayumi had just gotten home from cram school.

"We can't talk anymore. My sister will need to study," Teiko hurriedly whispered. "Tomorrow we have to go back into the woods and get my bag."

"What if the Chaos Dragon is there?"

"Then we'll stop him." Teiko's head fogged up a little at the thought of facing that thing again. She climbed down from the bunk with the messenger bag, signaling the swan to stay there. Ayumi came into the room and walked to her desk, looking exhausted.

"Tired?" Teiko asked.

Ayumi sighed as she plopped down in the chair and let her bag fall to the floor. "The second mock exams are coming up soon and I have three papers due next week." She straightened up. "But how are you doing? You looked terrible last night. Are you feeling better now?"

Teiko gave a kind of enthusiastic "Un!" and Ayumi smiled.

"Well good! But you better not have given it to me!"

"I don't think it was the kind that's contagious," said Teiko, moving to her own desk and starting to unpack her homework. When Ayumi got up and left the room to have some dinner before attacking her pile of assignments, Teiko stood, winked at the swan, then sat back down and began her own work.

* * *

The next day, after going through her normal morning routine and assuring her mother she was cured (and blanched a little at her own unintentional pun), Teiko left the apartment for school with her messenger bag containing last night's homework and the blue and white swan. She hurried down the road because there was one stop to make before school.

"Do you sense anything?" Teiko asked into the open flap of the messenger bag as she stood at the back of the park, near the dirt trail leading into the forest by the lake.

"Nothing chaotic around," responded the swan from inside the bag.

Teiko's free hand went up to the swan brooch pinned to her uniform, just above her heart. She clenched her jaw and stepped forward. Her heart was pounding as she hurried to the place where, just two days prior, a giant lizard man had jumped out of the bushes at her. The swan remained silent as she ran; something she was thankful for. Within minutes, she had made it and sure enough, her school bag lay there, right where she had set it down before talking to the swan. Teiko picked it up, quickly looked through it and turned back to leave. The trip out was also uneventful and she still made it to school just before the bell.

Having the swan in her bag made Teiko nervous; how do you explain something like that? The swan was only a little restless, which was understandable; being stuck in a bag all day is definitely something that would cause one discomfort. Luckily, it didn't give itself away. Homeroom ended and so did several other classes before lunch came. Teiko sat and ate some of her bento with several classmates, but was soon pressed to hurry.

"Teiko! I'm hungry!" Teiko clapped a hand over the bag.

"What was that?" Asked one of the girls.

"Do you have the new Tamagochi?" Asked another, fishing through her own bag. "I've got one, too! Let's have them play!"

"Uh, I don't think they're compatible."

"Why? Is yours a knockoff?" said the second, looking disappointed.

"Yeah, we can't afford the name brand," Teiko laughed nervously. "But I have to go to the library to finish some more of my homework. I didn't get everything done yesterday," she lied.

"Oh, yeah, being sick sucks. Glad you feel better!"

"Thanks!" Teiko closed her unfinished lunch, stuffed it in her bag ("Ow!") And trotted off, leaving the others to look curiously after her.

Once safely out of sight of most people in the library, she sat down at a private desk, removed her lunch and set the messenger bag down in the corner so the swan could come out.

"Shh, you have to be quiet; this is the library. Here," she whispered and pushed the bento towards the swan.

"What do you mean shh? I've been quiet this whole time," it reported, loudly. Teiko quickly grabbed its beak again.

"If we get caught, we'll get in trouble!" She whispered. "You're a talking swan. How can you explain that?"

"I'll think of something," the swan boasted after slipping out of Teiko's grasp.

This time she grabbed it with both hands, one over the beak and the other behind its head, bent over it and hissed, "Quiet!" Her eyes were large behind the frame of her glasses and her teeth were bared dangerously. The swan nodded energetically. Trusting it would obey, Teiko slowly let go and it remained quiet. "Here." She pushed the bento back over and the swan proceeded to scoop up some rice and stuff it in its beak. Lucky for Teiko, the swan was small and it didn't eat much.

"Thank you for the food; you're kind to think about me while packing your lunch."

"I didn't, it was for me. Though I'll add some more tomorrow."

"Teiko!" The swan sobbed, as if the inclusion of a few grains of rice was the nicest thing anyone had ever done for it, but it kept the outburst quiet.

"It's nothing," she said, a little embarrassed. Munching on a vegetable stick with her head in her hand, propped up on the table by her elbow, she looked curiously at the swan and changed the subject. "What are you, anyway?"

"I'm a super cute swan fairy, obviously!" They waited for the other to continue.

"And?"

"And what?"

"Well, where are you from? How come you came here? Do you have a name? You know my name. I think it's fair that I should know yours."

"My name is Zeta, a swan fairy of the Cygnet Kingdom, which is responsible for keeping balance in all the worlds," the swan announced proudly.

"Zeta..." Teiko said wistfully, as if she knew the name, but not its origin. "What do you mean by balance?"

"People and fairies in every world live and work every day, going about their daily lives. Good things happen. Bad things happen. That's balance. But there are some that just want to see everyone else suffer. They're the Chaos Dragons, mainly. So when they attack a world, some of us fairies travel there to protect the balance."

"But what about the good parts? If you keep balance, wouldn't you have to make things worse if they get too good?"

Zeta looked sad. "Technically yes." He paused. "But that's never happened because it's almost impossible to have paradise."

Teiko looked down at the desk as she thought about this. "I guess that makes sense. You're right that both good and bad things happen, but we don't give up. Things may never be perfect, but that's what life is. I have my family and my friends and I love them. We're lucky that nothing really bad has happened to us, so I'm thankful for that." Teiko had surprised herself with that motivational speech, but she still looked fiercely at the bird. "I do want to protect everyone! I'm scared of what will happen; that dragon guy is strong. But if I don't fight for everyone's happiness, who will?"

Zeta excitedly jumped up. "That's the spirit! I know you can do it! And I'll be with you, too."

Teiko gave a small chuckle, touched by Zeta's encouragement and took the swan's wing in her hand. "Thank you," she said, smiling at the swan for a minute before starting to pack up. "We need to get back to class." Without being bid to do so, Zeta climbed back in the bag.

"Don't worry. The Cygnus has never lost!"

Teiko smiled again, feeling more confident, and after Zeta tucked his beak in his wing, she picked up the bag and headed to class.

* * *

The remaining classes in Teiko's day passed quickly and without incident.

"I'm glad you feel better, Teiko. See you tomorrow!" one of her classmates said, after she had packed up her bag and was headed towards the door. Teiko wasn't leaving just yet, however; she was on cleaning duty today, so she stood aside while the rest of her classmates filed out of the room. Cleaning wasn't Teiko's favorite thing, but not because she herself didn't like to do it, but because she didn't think some of the other students did as good of a job as she could. In fact, there had been a few times when she had actually stayed a little later than the rest of the kids on cleaning duty and cleaned their part more thoroughly.

But before the last student left the classroom and the idea of staying late could even become a thought in her head, the building shook with a rather loud rumbling.

"Earthquake?" Someone said, but both the rumbling and shaking ceased far too quickly for that to be the case. As the remaining students in the classroom were frozen in place, looking at each other for confirmation, a scream came in through a window they had cracked open to allow the dust kicked up by their cleaning to escape into the wild. The first scream was closely followed by another, then a chorus of terrified voices and an explosion which rocked the school building a second time. A group of girls clung to each other while the boys in Teiko's class tried unsuccessfully to look tough. The boy closest to the windows nervously peered out over the athletic fields behind the school building. Sports teams that had been practicing there had all come to a halt, equally concerned about what was going on. For better or worse, their curiosity was soon satisfied by a student sprinting around the side of the building. Without stopping, he shouted one word at the top of his lungs: "Monster!"

At this, panic broke out in the classroom while students from other classes had begun to pour out of their rooms and run through the hallway.

Teiko's gaze shot to her bag in time to see a wing and beak trying to escape as Zeta squawked, "Chaos!"

She ran over and stuffed him back in the bag, but no one saw the swan in all the confusion. Suddenly, a teacher burst into the room and gestured for the students to leave.

"Everyone please hurry! Come with me!"

Teiko hesitated, but knew that the teacher wasn't going to leave until all the kids were out of the classroom, so, clutching her bag, she went with them. By now, the hallway was packed with scared kids screaming and crying, and the teachers had their hands full trying to herd them to safety. Using this to her advantage, Teiko easily slipped into another classroom and ducked down behind a desk as everyone else marched down the hall.

"Teiko! We have to stop the Chaos Dragon!"

"I know!" With sweating palms and eyes sung by the beginnings of tears, she tried to think of a way outside, since the classroom which was her present location was on the second floor and only opened to the hallway. Teiko clenched her jaw to stop her teeth from chattering. The din in the hall was growing fainter, so she risked a glimpse out the door. Only a few kids still ran in the direction the teachers were leading everyone, so, bag in hand, Teiko sprinted in the opposite direction. She easily made it to the other end of the hall, descended the side stairs and used the fire exit to get outside and face the monster.

In the courtyard stood a ten meter tall dragon.

Teiko's legs gave way and she slumped down against the building. Between her fear, the Chaos Dragon's oppressive force and the dash to the stairs, her body had finally had enough.

Zeta popped out of the bag. "Teiko, get up!" The dragon was stomping around, preventing the children from escaping the building or grounds while another figure stood on the school gates, laughing as they screamed.

She felt so weak as she lay there, staring at what would be her foe. Sweat mixed with the tears from her wide, unblinking eyes.

"Teiko! Teiiikooo! They're gathering Chaos Energy! We have to stop them! Come on!" Zeta shouted, frantically, gesturing wildly towards the dragon.

Slowly, as if with all the strength she could summon, Teiko pushed off from the wall onto her hands and knees, then rocked back to sit on her legs. As she clasped her shaking hands together in front of her, a sob shook her body and her head rolled forward. Her swan companion looked on, supremely concerned and empathic.

"Mom, dad. Ayumi, Harumi. I've only lived 13 years on this earth, but I've loved every day. I love you. I love you all." Her voice cracked and she barely choked out the last few words. When she raised her head to look at Zeta, he saw that the tears she was crying were no longer tears of fear, but of sorrow and of loss. "If I don't make it, will you fly me to heaven?"

The bird hiccupped, wiped away his own tears with his wing, and nodded.

"Thank you," she mouthed and smiled the best she could, as her throat was closed off.

Teiko put her left hand to her heart and pulled off the swan brooch she had used to transform two days prior. Slowly, she stood up and took several deep breaths to try to steady herself.

"Teiko…" said the swan.

"I'm the only one who can do this."

She punched up to the sky and the silver swan sparkled in the sunlight.

"Precure take flight!"

Upon a shifting, sparkly, purple background, Teiko was born again from the egg, the light receded into the brooch above her heart, and Cure Deneb appeared.

"Outshining the sun, the tail that maintains balance! Cure Deneb!"

Her fear diminished and strength regained, Cure Deneb clenched her fists and jaw and inhaled, held it, then exhaled.

"Cure Deneb…"

"Come on. We have to stop them, right?" Cure Deneb started walking towards the dragon and its master. She broke out into a jog and the swan flapped to keep up.

* * *

The figure standing atop the gates was indeed the same one who had attacked her in the forest. He noticed and watched as Deneb approached as boldly as she could manage.

"I wondered when we'd meet again," he said.

"Stop what you're doing! Stop this! You're frightening everybody!" she cried, her own fear still evident in her voice.

"Stop it? That's the point! I'm gathering Chaos Energy." The dragon-man focused his attention on her and let his minion stomp around at will.

"Why do you have to do this? Why don't you just go away?" Deneb shouted angrily.

"Why? Why do you think? We're going to get rid of the Cygnus once and for all!"

"The Cygnus has defeated the Chaos Dragons every time! This time will be no different!" shouted the small blue swan, standing at Deneb's feet.

The dragon scoffed. "You don't even know who you're up against. I've been wiping out your champions since before your mother was hatched!" he said, and gave an overly dramatic flourish with his scaly arm.

"I'm Arbo the Red Dragon; the third strongest warrior of the Chaos Dragons."

Zeta flinched at the name. "Arbo?" he said, and turning to Cure Deneb, "I've heard of him. Be careful; he's strong!"

Cure Deneb stared down her adversary.

"But I'm Pretty Cure."

She dashed towards him, much faster than she expected and remembering her superhuman power, jumped directly at him. Arbo stood fast, arms crossed.

"Konton!" he shouted.

Before Deneb reached him, something knocked her out of the air. She hit the ground and skidded through the dirt and gravel for a few meters before coming to a stop. Expecting the impact to hurt much more than it had, she slowly got to her hands and knees, then to her feet. Arbo had called the monster dragon, and it was now focusing its attention on her. "Better me than them. Maybe the other kids can escape now," she thought, grimly.

"If you give up now, I'll spare you," said Arbo, still atop the gate.

Cure Deneb growled. "You jerk! Leave us alone!"

Arbo barked out a laugh. "Konton, finish her!" he ordered, turning his back towards Cure Deneb. "I'll finish collecting this Chaos Energy myself." He jumped down from the gate and began walking towards the huddling mass of students and teachers trapped in the courtyard.

Cure Deneb started running towards him, but the Konton blocked her path.

"Konton!" the dragon bellowed.

She slid to a stop and with her stomach sinking, barely managed to dodge another punch from the Konton's massive fist. The Konton continued its attack, putting Cure Deneb on the defensive. She was able to dodge several of its blows, but she couldn't avoid all of them. Deneb threw up her arms, shut her eyes tight, clenched her teeth and braced for impact, but was again amazed that she had blocked the blow, and that encouraged her.

"Cure Deneb! Get in closer! You'll be harder to hit if you're right next to it!" shouted Zeta, from the sidelines. The Konton looked at him and made a noise that appeared to be a chuckle. On the next punch, Deneb deflected it to the side and ran in towards the monster. She went for its legs and, shouting, punched it as hard as she could. She was rewarded by the leg being knocked out from under the Konton.

But the Konton flicked its tail upwards to regain balance, pivoted on the other leg, planted it and spun around, hitting Cure Deneb in the back with its tail so forcefully that she was knocked into the concrete wall that surrounded the school. That one hurt, though didn't kill her as it probably would have if she hasn't been in Cure form. She picked herself up and noticed she was now between the Konton and Arbo. In that instant, Deneb decided to attack Arbo.

Arbo had some sort of device that was absorbing a red mist was emanating from the group of students huddling in terror by the school building. "No," she thought, as she ran towards him. Arbo turned and looked amused as she approached him, but was swatted aside again by the Konton. He laughed as she struggled to get up off the ground, then he looked over his shoulder.

"Konton, take over gathering the Chaos Energy."

"Konton." The dragon approached the device, while Arbo walked away. Cure Deneb followed his trajectory to her swan friend, completely defenseless.

"Zeta!" Deneb screamed, raising her hand to her mouth. The situation was getting worse. Now, not only was the Konton between her and Arbo again, but the swan was in serious danger. And that was in addition to whatever the Konton was doing to the students. She frantically looked back and forth between the students and the swan, unsure of what to do. Her friends were among the students, but what if the swan was taken? Would that be the end? Would she no longer be able to transform? Not sure she was making the right choice, Deneb started sprinting towards Arbo again. The Konton half heartedly swung its tail, but Deneb saw it coming this time, hurdled it and continued on. She swung with full force at the back of Arbo's head.

But he turned and stopped her punch dead in the air with one hand. Deneb could feel the hair on the back of her neck stand up as terror returned to her in spades. Arbo's face was hard, with blazing red eyes, no longer joking about his sure victory, and closed his hand, crushing her fist in it. She screamed in pain and dropped to her knees, jerking her arm back frantically, trying in vain to pull away.

"You should have given up."

Arbo swung Cure Deneb up over his head by her hand and slammed her into the ground. The wind was completely knocked out of her and she barely heard Zeta shout her name. Arbo said something else she couldn't make out, and kicked her across the courtyard. Deneb was completely disoriented until she hit something that must have been a wall, because then she dropped to the ground. It was hard to move and harder to breathe, but she managed to push herself up to her elbows and turn her head towards the action. What she saw was enough to inject her with a life-saving shot of adrenaline: Arbo and the Konton were advancing on her. Heart racing, Cure Deneb jumped to her feet and shouted:

"Precure Deneb Illumination!"

The light blinded her adversaries, leaving her with the advantage of sight, which she used to dash over, scoop Zeta up, and run to the opposite side of the school building. She slumped down in a corner, utterly exhausted and broken, sobbing and cradling the equally frightened swan, knowing their lives were over. A roar of rage shattered the air and Cure Deneb waited.

* * *

Next episode:

"Hi, I'm Teiko Hakucho and I just became Cure Deneb, but I'm in a big pinch! These Chaos Dragons are scary. Is this the end for Zeta and I?"

"Please don't let it be. I'm counting on you, Deneb!"

"What's this? Another Cure? Who is she? Next time on Northern Cross Pretty Cure! Please read it!"

"You can't see it, but we're bowing."

"Shh!"

"Ow!"

* * *

Ending song: ganBALANCE de Dance, N.C.P.C. ver.


	3. Episode 2, part 1

Northern Cross Pretty Cure episode 2

Opening song: Onegai Precure, Northern † Cross!

* * *

Natsuko's duties as class rep often kept her after school. She hadn't run for the position, but her classmates thought her up to the task anyway due to her presence. At first glance, Natsuko's thin frame might belie her strength of both will and body, but the confidence she displayed once in motion would give a more accurate impression. Though thin, Natsuko stood a little taller than most, her brown eyes were full of life and her smile constant and infectious.

Whether there was a student council meeting or just regular class rep work, the latter being the case tonight, Natsuko always had a full schedule. Today was a light day, though; only sorting and delivering some papers, so she would soon be on her way home, alone. Her slender fingers pushed her shoulder length Brown hair behind one ear and deftly flipped through the tests. Natsuko grimaced a bit when she got to get own. Her score was not at the top of the class, but then again, it never was. She'd be happy just as long as she kept her grades high enough to be allowed to continue her extracurricular activities, but this particular one was toeing that line. Natsuko would be lying if she said she did not resent the position at least a little, since it kept her from going home with her brother, Shun.

The two Akiyama siblings would have time to spend together tomorrow, since they had ballet class after school. When they were four years old, their parents enrolled Natsuko in dance and Shun in karate. Shun had enjoyed karate well enough, but he saw Natsuko dancing and was envious of his sister's activity. After enough asking, pleading, begging and yes, even a little tantrum, their father Nobu gave a sigh and allowed his son to switch from karate to dance. Keeping the children apart was a futile activity, their mother Fuyumi had warned. After all, they were born together.

Natsuko completed sorting, stapled the piles together and stacked them on her desk. Yes! With everything done, she could now go home! Natsuko made sure she had everything in her bag, took the hoodie off the back of her chair and slipped it on over her bare arms. One problem with being so thin was that she was cold three seasons out of the year. She picked up her bag and the papers, left the classroom, shutting the door behind her and walked downstairs to the staff room.

"Excuse me," she said as she slid the door open, entered and closed it again. There were only two teachers at their desks and neither of them were hers, so without being acknowledged, Natsuko made her way to her own teacher's desk and placed the papers neatly in front of the chair. Her task done, she left the way she came in and skipped down the hall. Since there were few students around at this hour, Natsuko did some graceful leaps in between skips, spun once and bowed. Someone cleared their throat behind her. Natsuko froze, caught.

"Miss Akiyama, I believe we've spoken about this before." Natsuko turned her head to see her teacher walking towards the staff room door.

"The papers are on your desk," Natsuko said cheerfully, still bowed over, changing the subject.

"I'm sure they're all in order." He put his hand on the door and slid it open. "Please don't dance in the hallway."

Natsuko stood, turned and bowed properly. "I'm sorry!" And straightening, "I'll see you tomorrow!" The teacher nodded and walked into the staff room, but popped his head right back out when he heard her rapid footfalls.

"No running in the halls, either!"

"Sorry!" Natsuko called out, not stopping. She stopped at the shoe lockers to exchange what she was wearing for the more comfortable flat soled shoes she preferred.

Natsuko had a bus to catch. Her house was south of the school; any further south and she would not have attended Mizuwa. She hurried out of the school building while checking the time on her cell phone, because it would be a long walk if she missed the bus. She zigzagged a few blocks east and south, her feet not making any sound as she hurried. Ordinary people might fail to pick up on the way she walked, but someone who practiced dance or a martial art would appreciate the efficiency and lightness with which Natsuko moved her body, a skill that disciplines other than those two place no emphasis on. She turned the final corner only to see the bus pulling away from the curb.

"What?" she exclaimed in dismay. Her phone read 3:46, two full minutes before the bus was supposed to arrive! She walked over to the shelter anyway and double checked the schedule. Sure enough, the bus was still supposed to make its stop at 3:48. Natsuko growled, flipped open her phone, selected a contract and dialed. "Mom, the bus was early," she said.

"Ah nuts," came the reply. "Well, get home when you can and be safe."

"I will. See you in a bit."

"I love you, dear," her mom said.

"I love you, too. Bye." Natsuko hung up and returned the phone to her bag. 3:48 had passed while she was talking to her mother, so the bus really had come early. She would have to wait fifteen minutes for the next bus but maybe she could catch another line in the meantime. When there was no longer any traffic, Natsuko slipped across the street and made her way two more blocks eastward, arriving at the stop just as the bus was pulling up. She ascended the stairs, paid her fare and found an open seat. As she settled in, she reached into her bag for her mp3 player. The bus ride was not too long, but she liked to have something to listen to. Before she could put the earbuds in, however, the bus turned left. Alarmed, Natsuko looked up at the scrolling marquee at the front of the bus. This was the wrong route! Two routes serviced the stop where she got on, a fact she had forgotten.

Natsuko pressed the stop request bar, but the bus made a right turn, then another left and drove two more blocks before it reached the next stop. Natsuko could only sit and wait until then. Once she exited, she put the unused mp3 player back in her bag and exchanged it for her phone.

"Mom, I got on the wrong bus," she said one her mother had picked up.

"How did you do that? Are you lost? Where are you?"

"I don't know. No. I'm by the shopping arcade."

"Well, can you get home?"

"Yes. I'll find another bus."

"Ok. Call me if you need anything."

"I will. Bye."

"Bye."

Natsuko examined the system map on the wall of the shelter. She wasn't the best with maps, but figured out she could catch another line that should get her close to her house if she cut through the park one block over.

As she walked through the green space, Natsuko wondered if she had ever visited this park before. There was a path that wound among the trees with several benches alongside it, but no one was around. The fall air was not so cold that everyone would stay inside, but there were busy roads on three sides. Maybe that made it inconvenient. The park was very well maintained, though; the paved path was swept and the green grass cut. The noise from the streets which enclosed the park seem far away and long shadows stretched in front of her, creating contrasting bars of light and dark across the path. The whole scene was beautiful and Natsuko felt like dancing right there.

"Become Pretty Cure!" a shrill voice screeched behind her. Natsuko actually jumped in surprise. She screamed, closed her eyes and spun around, swinging her school bag at head level. There was a moment of resistance as she felt it impact something, but when she opened her eyes and looked around, she was still literally the only person in the park. Right, left, behind her, even up; no one. She was alone. Was there another reason no one visited this park? Something... other worldly?

Natsuko heard a groan from below her and looked down to see a very curious specimen of a bird. Its plumage was iridescent blue and yellow, or, was it just green? Natsuko stepped back and crouched down next to the bird in order to examine it more closely. The bird, which was smaller than a duck, but larger than most tree birds, raised its head from the ground, revealing its most striking feature: An elongated neck.

"A swan?" Natsuko said aloud.

"Ugh, I have whiplash. I'm going to sue!" the bird said, rubbing its feathery had with one wing.

"You can't sue me. You're a bird," Natsuko retorted.

"Nuts! But what about my pain and emotional trauma? How are you going to make that up to me?"

Natsuko raised an eyebrow at the talking bird.

"Who, or what, are you? Wait, you jumped out at me!"

"So?"

"Why should I have to make anything up to you?" Natsuko said, crossly.

The swan placed one wing on the back of its long neck and moaned. "Oooh, it hurts. You could have killed me! You could have broken my neck!"

The bird sounded like it was being facetious, but Natsuko was beginning to wonder.

"There is one thing you could do," it said. Natsuko didn't pick up on the eagerness in this slowly delivered request.

"Y- yeah?"

The bird looked directly at her with a sparkle in its eye and said, "Become Pretty Cure."

"What's Pretty Cure?"

It picked itself up off the ground and shook the dust off its feathers, talking to itself. "Looks like Pretty Cure isn't active. I got here just in time." The swan cleared its elongated throat and said, "The earth is in danger and I'm here to help you save it!" while making a dramatic pose.

"That doesn't explain Pretty Cure, weirdo."

The swan was hurt by this and pouted. "Pretty Cure is who is going to save the world."

"So you want me to save the earth? From what?"

"The Chaos Dragons! They've targeted Earth and are coming to upset the balance!"

Natsuko nodded and the two looked at each other as cars passed in the distance. "Go on."

"Well, uh, the Chaos Dragons are going to upset balance on Earth, so, um, become Pretty Cure and save the world."

Natsuko rolled her eyes. "Did you think about this before coming here?"

"Yes! I'm going to recruit Pretty Cure to stop the Chaos Dragons!"

"You're not very convincing. For a talking swan." Natsuko stood up. "I suppose this is your idea of a fated encounter?"

The swan scratched its head and looked pensive.

"Well, no, look. I'm Pai, a beautiful swan fairy, if I do say so myself, from the Cygnus Kingdom. The Cygnus is responsible for keeping balance in all the worlds, but the Chaos Dragons want to destroy that balance and throw the universe into chaos. They feed on Chaos Energy; it's what gives them power; and apparently the Earth has more potential to create Chaos Energy than any other world they've attacked in centuries. Naturally, this concerns the Cygnus, especially since she can't come here herself, so cygnets like myself are sent out in her place." Pai spread his wings. "Here I am."

Natsuko crouched down again, looking hard at Pai. "So something's coming for us and you want me to stop it?" she said, seriously. Pai nodded, equally serious. Natsuko wondered why she wasn't surprised at all by the appearance of a small, multi-colored, talking swan, and why what actually concerned her was what the swan was actually saying. She couldn't make sense of why that would be. What made her believe this talking bird? But believe it she did, so she decided to go along with the story. "Come home with me."

"Huh?"

"Where else are you going to stay until you find your Pretty Cure?" Natsuko said, offering a hand to the swan.

"What about you? Will you do it?" The swan did not move.

"I haven't said no," Natsuko said, with a knowing smile on her face.

Pai appeared to be having an internal debate, but resolved it a moment later. "Ok. But I still want you to become Pretty Cure." He placed his wing on her hand.

Natsuko's smile expanded to her whole face and a strange excitement grew in her stomach. She extended her other hand and picked Pai up under his wings, surprised by how light he was. "Come on, I have a bus to catch. Pretend you're a stuffed animal while there are other people around, so they don't get suspicious." Natsuko stood and continued walking in the towards her original destination, before this strange distraction occurred. As she reached the other end of the park, it occurred to her that Pai had been awfully quiet since being picked up. When she looked down, she saw that the swan had fallen asleep in her arms.

"Asking me to become Pretty Cure must have been stressful for him," she said, and cradled him in a motherly fashion to the bus stop.

Once she finally arrived home, Natsuko went up to her room and deposited Pai gently upon the beanbag chair against the wall.

"Took you long enough. Did you get lost?" said her brother Shun poking his head in her door.

The resemblance between the Akiyama siblings was instantly noticeable. Shun kept his hair shorter than Natsuko did, but they shared the same eyes and much of their facial structure. Natsuko was one centimeter taller and thinner, mainly due to Shun's male frame, which, like his sister's, was slender, but firmly muscled.

"Sort of. I missed my bus and tried to take another, but got on the wrong one," Natsuko said, removing her hoodie.

"Sounds like it's a good thing I'm around or you'd never make it to dance," Shun laughed. Natsuko threw the balled up sweatshirt at him, but it fluttered down to the floor, well short of the intended target.

"Natsuko? I didn't hear you come in," said a female voice, and their mother's head joined Shun's in the doorway. "Once you're ready, we'll have dinner." Fuyumi left.

"Ok, mom." Now that she thought about it, she was fairly hungry.

"Hurry up!" Shun said before he, too disappeared. Natsuko just rolled her eyes, walked over and shut the door. She unbuttoned the top button on her blouse, but then decided against changing, as her hunger was more pressing. Before she reached the door, however, a thought stopped her. What do swans eat? Pai was still curled up on the beanbag chair and luckily, looked for the world like a stuffed animal. Natsuko would bring something up for him later, but now she left her room and walked downstairs. Shun and their mother were talking when Natsuko entered the kitchen.

"Let's eat!" Shun said, and leapt lithely to the table, their parents having long ago given up trying to prevent their children from dancing in the house. Shun sat down at his place and was soon joined by the two women. Fuyumi had prepared omelets with rice, which were already on their plates.

"Thank you for the food," Natsuko and Shun said before cutting in. They ate a while in relative silence before their mother spoke.

"What did you do at school today?"

"All I had was some sorting after. The usual during the day." Natsuko took another bite.

"Did you get your test back?" asked Fuyumi.

Natsuko chewed slowly. "Not yet." Technically it wasn't a lie. Bullet dodged, for now.

The rest of dinner passed with idle chatter and much food consumed. After, Fuyumi put their father's portion in the refrigerator and turned on the TV as the twins went to their respective rooms to do their homework.

However, once in her room, Natsuko's eyes fell on Pai, now waking up, and she closed the door.

"Good morning, Pai. How are you?"

Pai stretched his wings out and shook his feathers. "Ha, I'm good. Is it morning already?"

"No, still evening. You were only asleep for about an hour." Natsuko sat on the floor next to the beanbag chair.

"I'm hungry." Natsuko suddenly remembered that she forgot.

"I'll get you something," said Natsuko, standing again. "What would you like?"

Without hesitation, Pai responded, "Cheesecake."

Natsuko scowled. "What do you think this is? A French restaurant? We don't have that."

"But I was told I could get that on Earth!" Pai protested.

"You can, but not everywhere. It's expensive, you know." Natsuko put a hand on her hip.

Pai turned, fuming. "Did they tell me that just to get me to go to Earth?" he mumbled to himself.

"What did you say?" Natsuko had not heard.

"Nothing."

"Well, ok. I'll bring you something sweet."

"Thanks," said Pai, looking slightly downcast. Natsuko gave him a sideways glance before leaving the room, closing the door behind her.

Fuyumi was still watching TV when Natsuko walked downstairs. Natsuko tried to pass behind her inconspicuously, but it was difficult to do so when the living room was so open. In the kitchen, she opened the freezer and removed a strawberry mochi. She knew she wouldn't be able to prevent the freezer door from making noise when it shut, then quickly walked back towards the stairs.

"Are you still hungry, Natsuko?" her mother said from the couch.

"Just a treat. To motivate me. I get it when I'm done studying."

"Ok."

Natsuko continued through the living room and up the stairs. Once securely in her room again, she offered the mochi to Pai.

"What's this?" he asked.

"Mochi. You'll like it," Natsuko said, sitting this time in her desk chair. Pai nibbled a tiny bit off of the mochi and chewed it with a concerned look on his face. "What, you don't like it?"

"No, it's fine. It's not expensive dessert item, but it'll do," Pai responded, dismissively.

Natsuko scoffed. "Well if you don't like it, I'll eat it." But Pai had already shoved most of it into his beak and was chewing steadily. Natsuko waited until he swallowed. "So, Pai, you beautiful swan fairy, tell me more about yourself."

Pai looked only happy to oblige the request and tried hard to look dashing. "Well, if you insist. I'm Pai, but you already know that. I was born three rotations ago in the Cygnus Kingdom, my astrological sign is seven, my favorite space croquet team is The Dashing Hats and besides space croquet, I enjoy long walks on lunar beaches and watching the planets set."

None of that had any meaning to Natsuko, so she brushed it aside and pushed on with another question. "Why did you come here specifically?"

Pai puffed out his chest feathers. "It is an honor to be selected to protect another world in the name of the Cygnus. Only the strongest, fastest and smartest cygnets who volunteer will be selected, for the mission is both critical and dangerous!"

"So you volunteered? And naturally you were selected."

"Exactly! I was at the top of my class and top wicket whacker on the space croquet team at school, so of course, I'd get chosen." Natsuko gave a patient smile and thought Pai looked too full of himself.

"And where do the Chaos Dragons fit in?"

"The Chaos Dragons are a terrible group of creatures from the Chaos Kingdom. For millennia, the Dragon has tried to throw the universe into chaos, but the Cygnus has always stopped it. But recently, and this is the hard part, this group has formed around the Dragon, who has been dispatching them to other worlds that the Cygnus cannot reach. Their goal is to collect Chaos Energy to feed the Dragon and give it power. But what the Chaos Dragons didn't count on is that we, the cygnets, can travel to all the same worlds that they can, so we still have a perfect record of defeating them! And so here I am, and here you are, protecting the Earth together!"

"Why do you need me? The cygnets can travel to other worlds but can't fight the Chaos Dragons on their own? They need kids to do it for them?"

Pai looked offended. "No, I mean, the cygnets rally the local forces to fight the Chaos Dragons…"

"So Pretty Cure has to do the dirty work."

"Well, the Legendary Warriors Pretty Cure are the heroes of Earth, but on other worlds, it would be someone else."

"But still, Pretty Cure is going to be all the work."

"No! I have plenty to do! You won't be doing all the work."

Natsuko leaned back in her chair and smirked. "Of course I won't be." Pai nervously wondered what she meant by that. She let him sweat.

"I'll give this Pretty Cure thing a try," she said at last.

Pai let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. "Good." He took a few more deep breaths, and placed his wing on his chest. "I was beginning to get worried. I believe the Chaos Dragons are already on the move." The room grew quiet and Natsuko was suddenly chilly. She felt her skin prickle, then shivered.

"Then I should go to bed, so I'll be ready if anything happens tomorrow," she said, not looking at the swan.

"Yes, there's nothing else we can do tonight," he said.

"Oh, but I've still got homework to do," she said quietly, looking back at her bag and desk.

"Is that a computer? Are you going to be using it?" Pai asked, pointing at the laptop Natsuko had on her desk.

"Sure, here," she said, detachedly, as she unplugged the laptop and set it on the floor next to the beanbag chair.

Natsuko unpacked her bag and laid out her books and notes, but her eyes wouldn't focus on them. She did not finish her homework.

* * *

Natsuko did not sleep well that night, either. As a result, much of the morning was a blur. Pai had requested that she bring him to school with her, as they should stick together in case anything happens, and she gave in without any fight, but wondered what she had gotten into.

"Natsuko, hello? You're totally zoned out," said Shun, as the two of them walked out the front door. "Are you ok?"

Natsuko's stomach felt heavy, even though she had little appetite for breakfast. "Yes, I'm ok." She knew it was a dangerous move to lie to Shun; the twins could tell when the other was hiding something, and they both knew that Shun knew Natsuko was doing exactly that. Pai had woken up suddenly in the night, which had in turn woken Natsuko, and frightened, whispered that he could sense some faint chaotic movement. She was not ok.

Shun grabbed her wrist and they stopped. "No, you're not. I can tell you didn't sleep well, and that might satisfy mom and dad, but you can't fool me. I know you're upset; *I* woke up upset this morning."

"Shun, I'm ok. Trust me. Yes, I'm upset, but that's it," Natsuko said, but the way she clenched her fists and looked away from him said otherwise. Shun slowly let go of his sister's arm, watching her silently. They continued walking to the bus stop.

The tense silence continued all the way to school. Natsuko hung her bag on the side of her desk and pretended to be ok. She took several deep breaths she hoped were inconspicuous enough to pass off as yawns and tried to concentrate on school. There was a stack of papers on the teacher's desk which, not coincidentally, were the same ones she'd sorted the evening before, that she had to pass back. Doing so helped her to try and forget the strange and upsetting events of the previous day enough to focus on school. As the day went by and she became more alert, it was easier for her to focus, and by lunch, she was ready to try to finish what was left of her homework, all of which was due after lunch, having actually done all the homework for pre lunch classes last night.

Natsuko retreated to a club room that wouldn't be used during the day to work. Pai kept quiet, though probably bored, which allowed her to get close to finishing before having to return to class.

The remainder of the day was good to Natsuko and she had been starting to feel better, until school ended. As soon as the bell rang, she began to pack her bag, but before she had donned her hoodie, Shun appeared next to her desk.

"Ready for dance?" he asked. Natsuko pulled the hoodie down over her head a little slower than usual; she had hoped to avoid Shun until dance, but he clearly had other ideas.

"Can I meet you there?" Natsuko asked. Shun frowned. Before he could speak up, Natsuko continued, "I just need to think about some things." He stood there, looking at his sister for a few seconds before leaning in.

"Will you promise to tell me if you're in trouble?" he whispered.

Looking straight ahead. Natsuko sighed, then, turning to her brother, said, "Yes." Though the knowledge may put him in danger, keeping a secret from Shun was too much for her.

Satisfied, Shun straightened up. "I'll see you there, then."

"Ok." Shun waved and left. Natsuko waited a few moments before herself leaving. Dance didn't start for another hour and it took ten minutes by bus, so she had time. Upon exiting the school, Natsuko walked southeast, to the park where she met Pai the day before. As before, she was alone when she entered, and again, she noted how secluded the park felt, despite its location, squeezed in between busy roads.

Natsuko sat on a bench, watching the shadows of leaves fluttering in the wind. Pai struggled in her bag and Natsuko opened it for him to come out. He preened some feathers before settling down next to her.

"Have you ever done this before?" she asked. The swan looked up at her.

"Done what?"

"Gone somewhere to fight the Chaos Dragons."

Pai took a moment before answering. "No. We only have to do it once." They sat a while in silence. A cool, autumn breeze made Natsuko shiver and she folded her arms in front of her. She had so many questions, but where to start?

"Do you think we can win?"

"The Cygnus has never lost before."

"I just… I, I'm scared." Pai put a wing on her lap to reassure her.

"You can do it. I don't know how I know, but I do. Maybe it's a gift from the Cygnus." Natsuko unfolded one arm and laid her hand over the iridescent feathers, but didn't reply. "Hey, I'm here, too! How can we possibly lose with me on our team?" Pai said. Natsuko gave a small smile. The sounds of traffic were unnaturally far away, given their actual proximity. Natsuko would have had to concentrate to hear them, but she was more interested in the landscaped nature of the park. With the sun shining low in the sky, she found it possible to imagine that there was nothing past the edge of the trees. No buildings, no roads, no cars. If she walked to the edge of the park, she wondered, would she'd find the edge of the park or a bright nothingness? Somehow, Natsuko felt as if Shun was with her and she turned her eyes downward.

"What if I tell Shun? Will it place him in danger?"

"No more than he's already in." The voice which spoke did not belong to Pai.

* * *

Eyecatcher A: Chibi Natsuko and Shun dance a short piece as Clara and the Nutcracker. They bow.


	4. Episode 2, part 2

Eyecatcher B: Pai sits down to large helping of cheesecake, but his thought bubble bursts and he wakes up with his pillow in his beak. He throws a fit.

* * *

Pai squawked and flapped off the bench while suddenly, Natsuko was overcome with a wave of nausea, dizziness and fear. She clapped one hand to her mouth and doubled over as if pushed from behind.

"Natsuko!" Pai screamed. She lifted her pounding head to see him pointing his wing at something behind her. "A Chaos Dragon!" A burst of adrenalin cleared her mind and vision enough to allow her to scramble off the bench, across the paved path and stumble into the grass on the other side. With stains on her knees and pain in one hand from landing on a sharp rock, she turned around.

Someone, or something, stood behind the bench. The tight fitting black dress emphasised the figure's chest and feminine form, but unlike any human female, she stood at least a head above the tallest man Natsuko had ever met, including foreigners. What appeared to be her skin was as black as the void of space, but shiny where the light hit it. Her round face sported dangerous-looking angular eyes and an extremely large mouth which did not appear to have lips. Something like hair, expertly styled and also black, flowed from the top of her head, down her back. She stood at ease, looking at the girl and bird, cowering before her.

"A cygnet," she observed, coolly. "Can you feel the Chaos Energy? Is that why you're scared? Or do you wish you were safely enclosed by your mother's down anytime something goes bump?" Natsuko, herself shaking, risked a glance at Pai, who was absolutely cowed by the Chaos Dragon's presence.

"Pai," she whimpered.

"Yes, I know. 'The Cygnus has never been defeated,' and all that. I've heard that before. We all have. And we're tired of it." The dragon woman did not move. "Cygnet, I know you planned on dying here, but you probably didn't count on it being so soon. Not today, though."

Pai quickly started rummaging through what must have been a pocket underneath his wing, glancing up at the dragon, who still showed no intention of moving. He produced something and held it up towards Natsuko. "Take this and transform! Say -"

"Don't bother," the dragon woman barked. "If you transform, then tonight *will*, be your last." Pai remained stock still and Natsuko made no move towards the item.

For the first time since appearing, the dragon woman moved. Her weight shifted to her right leg and she stepped forward with her left. Each motion was perfectly fluid, graceful, like a dancer. Natsuko was paralyzed with fear, but couldn't help staring; nearly hypnotized by an uncomfortable feeling of strange beauty as the dragon walked towards her. Slits reaching all the way up to the hips on either side of the dragon's ankle length dress, parted as she walked, revealing glimpses of powerful legs colored absolute black. A tail protruded from below the hem, ringed with offset layers of barbs, the end held up off the ground. Not until she stopped in front of Pai did Natsuko realize the dragon was not approaching her.

"Next time you talk to the Cygnus, tell her that once the Earth falls into chaos, we're coming for her." The dragon towered over the tiny bird. Pai could not reply. The dragon stood so completely still while glaring at Pai, that Natsuko wondered if her dress could even blow in the wind. The dragon took a step backwards while turning and walked away from them, just as smoothly as before. "If you interfere, which I know you will, we will kill you." Several steps beyond the bench, she seemed to disappear into the shadow of a tree and with her went the powerful aura, but Natsuko was still shaking uncontrollably. Her breaths came increasingly rapidly and soon she was lifting her trembling hands to wipe away the streams of tears which erupted from her eyes as she sobbed. Pai took a step towards Natsuko, but his legs gave out and he plopped down onto the dirt. He put the item he held away and hosted himself back up to his feet, then, trying again, he made it to Natsuko and placed a wing on her leg. Natsuko cried for a few intense minutes before her tears subsided, then, still shaking, she made her way back to the bench. Pai flapped unsteadily up next to the crying girl and nestled against her leg. Natsuko put a hand around him and have a gentle squeeze.

"What do we do?" she asked.

"We'll win. I know it. We have to."

Natsuko was unconvinced, however, and was immobilized by indecision. She did not think the bus would have come yet, but could not be certain of how much time had passed during the encounter with the dragon woman. Whether it had or not was not of concern to her, since she would not be going to dance class today. She knew it would be inevitable that Shun would confront her again, but still was unsure of whether or not to tell him the truth. That dragon had basically said he was already in the most danger possible, so what more damage could that knowledge do? But would he even believe her? Shun, I'm Pretty Cure and I have to fight space dragons. Mom, I think Natsuko needs to go to the doctor. But she needed support.

Natsuko realized that part of the reason she continued to shiver so much was because of the cold. The sun, while not completely set, had become hidden by neighboring buildings and the park was entirely covered in shadow.

"I'm going to go home. Come with me," she said, working stiffening fingers around the strap on her bag.

"I won't leave you," Pai replied, who stood and stretched his wings, wobbling slightly.

Natsuko felt somehow relieved and calmed by Pai's statement. "Here." She opened the bag for the bird to climb in and hide. Once he was inside, Natsuko stood and clutched the back of the bench to steady herself against weakened and trembling legs. When she was satisfactorily stable, she began the trek back to her bus stop.

At the bus stop, Natsuko checked the time on her phone to see how long of a wait they had and noticed she had some missed mail. Of course it was from Shun.

hey where are you

im at dance but you arent

are you ok

Natsuko typed one reply to him: i dont feel good and im going home sorry

Noting there were still several minutes before the bus arrived, she closed her phone and put it in her bag.

"Ow!"

"Oh! I'm sorry!" Natsuko looked around, but there was no one around to hear. "Sorry," she said again into the bag.

"I'm ok, but be careful." Pai sounded like he was holding back irritation.

The ride home was quiet and uneventful. Natsuko realized halfway through that she had forgotten to put in her earbuds and listen to music, but at that point, she was not going to get them out.

When she arrived home and walked through the door, her mother looked around the corner. "Natsuko? What are you doing here?" When her daughter did not answer immediately, she hurried over and saw she had grass stains and dirt on her knees and clothes. "What happened to you?"

"I got dizzy and fell," Natsuko said, removing her shoes while leaning on the wall for support.

"Did you eat lunch?" her mother asked.

In her already upset state, this question sparked quick anger in Natsuko and she lashed out. "Yes, mom. I ate lunch. I always eat lunch. I have never skipped a meal and I never will. Not for dance or anything else," she said, angrily.

"I just worry about you." Her mother's response was firm but compassionate.

Natsuko's anger deflated and her shoulders slumped. "I'm sorry, mom. I just, I don't feel good." She did not want to have this fight now.

"Let's get you upstairs. You should rest." Natsuko nodded. "You'll feel better after you sleep." Her mother held her arm while they walked upstairs, but Natsuko didn't protest. "I'll bring up some snacks for you," she said, then checked herself. "They'll help you regain your energy. Not because I think you're not eating," then, after a pause, "I'm sorry, too, Natsuko. I didn't mean to suggest that you're starving yourself."

"Mom," Natsuko said. She turned and gave her mother a big hug, trying to hold back the tears that threatened to spill out again. Fuyumi returned the hug.

"Go get your pjs on now." They separated and Natsuko turned back to her room with her head down. Fuyumi walked back downstairs.

Inside her room, Natsuko closed the door and opened her bag for Pai to come out. He jumped and flapped over to the beanbag chair and watched Natsuko, not speaking. She set the bag down and started unbuttoning her blouse as she walked across the room to her dresser, but turned back towards Pai.

"Don't look."

"Sorry, I was only wondering if you're ok," he said, somehow blushing through his iridescent feathers and looking away. He took a keen interest in the craftsmanship of the beanbag chair while Natsuko changed.

"I'm done," she said. Pai turned back around. Dressed in pink, bunny print jammies, Natsuko lifted the covers from her bed and slipped between them and the mattress, shivering. She had been cold to begin with, but having removed the clothing already warmed by her body heat, and sandwiching herself into a cold bed, she felt miserable. Not long after, her mother knocked on the door, then opened it and looked in before entering. She brought with her a bowl of mint chocolate chip ice cream, which she set down on the desk near Natsuko's head.

"This will make you feel better."

Natsuko sat up, wondering how she was slightly warmer when she was not covered by the blankets, but, upon seeing the ice cream, perked up a little. Between the familiarity of her home, the bed, her mother and now the ice cream, the fear that had assaulted Natsuko earlier was beginning dissipate and she felt safer. With a little smile, she lifted the bowl, took up the spoon and carved a small bit of green ice cream off the top scoop. As it touched her tongue, Natsuko closed her eyes and savored the flavor. Even though the cold treat made her shiver again, this kind of cold was acceptable. She put the bowl back down and risked being exposed to additional cold air to leave her bed and give her mother another hug.

"Thank you, mom!"

"You're welcome. Rest after you're done."

"I will." Once apart, Fuyumi left the room while Natsuko climbed back in bed. Reclaiming the bowl, she resumed eating the ice cream, slowly and deliberately. Between bites, she noticed a certain bird, looking covetously at the bowl she held. Natsuko's first reaction was to protect her precious ice cream, but in light of recent happenings which they had both been a part of, softened her stance. "Come here," she said, and immediately, Pai was winging his way up to the bed. He landed next to her and looked up with eyes full of anticipation, but she held the spoon back. "I won't get any kind of weird space disease if I share with you, will I?"

Pai looked offended. "I've had all my shots, thank you very much." With no other argument to be made, Natsuko dug out a small amount of ice cream and held the spoon close to the swan. Drooling, Pai slurped it up and pondered the taste for a moment. "It's no cheesecake, but it's good."

"If you don't like it, get out!" Natsuko growled, with fire in her eyes. Mint chocolate chip was sacred to her. Pai backed down.

"O, ok. You can have it," he said.

Natsuko continued to eat, feeling better with each bite, and despite her earlier outburst, shared several bites with Pai, who had been throwing sideways glances at the spoon each time it went into Natsuko's mouth.

Natsuko was hardly worried about the events of earlier by the time she had finished the ice cream; its magic doing the trick. However, even after mine chocolate chip ice cream, she still trembled slightly. An encounter with a two and half meter tall dragon from space would be a traumatic experience for anyone, after all.

"Nap time," she said to Pai, getting out of bed. Natsuko pulled the blinds and turned off the light, then returned to her now cozy bed, easing into the sheets and pulling the blankets up to her neck. She stared at the ceiling for a while, the familiarity of it comforting, but still feeling like something was missing.

"Pai?" she whispered into the darkness.

"Mmm?" came his reply.

"Do you... Would you like to sleep in the bed with me?"

"Can't fall asleep?"

"I'm... lonely." Shun. The two of them almost shared one life and to exclude him now made her heart hurt. She heard flapping wings and felt the light pressure of his steps on the blankets as the swan waddled across the covers and settled down near Natsuko's shoulder.

"Is this ok?" Pai asked considerately. Natsuko nodded. "Good night, Natsuko." Pai tucked his beak under his wing and Natsuko realized that this was the first time he had spoken her name. What would happen to them? Would she really have the power to defeat the dragons? Her eyelids grew heavy and she let them close. Tiny swan breaths, some traffic and movement downstairs were about all she could hear. The darkness grew darker until it encompassed her completely and she fell asleep.

* * *

Natsuko woke to the sound of her alarm clock as usual, sat up and yawned. She noticed Pai, still sleeping and turned to get out of bed and start her morning stretches and -

"I didn't do any of my homework!" she explained loudly, waking the bird on the bed next to her. "Ahh! I didn't even take a bath!" She grabbed a set of clothes from the dresser and dashed to the door as Pai watched groggily. Something fell out of her arms and she agilely doubled back to pick it up before rushing out of her room. The bathroom was unoccupied when she entered, as it usually was in the mornings, and Natsuko quickly removed her clothes, filled a bucket with lukewarm water and hastily scrubbed herself off. The grass stains were still on her knees and she worked hard to remove them , since they could be visible under her skirt. This came at the expense of her hair, though, which she left dry. Once that was done, she dried off and dressed right there, before dashing back and throwing her pjs in the corner of her otherwise clean room, before making the turn to go downstairs. Shun and their parents were finishing their breakfasts when she pulled up to the table.

"Good morning," her mother said, chucking.

"Running late, huh? Well, me too. I should get going," Nobu said. "Looks looks you're feeling much better than mom said you were yesterday."

"You didn't wake me up, mom!" Natsuko said, buttering some toast.

Fuyumi just shook her head. "You really needed to rest. I didn't want you to get worse than you were. I didn't let Shun in, either." Shun didn't say anything.

"Have a good day at school, kids," said their father, picking up his briefcase to leave.

"Bye dad," Natsuko said, hastily.

"Bye,"said Shun, standing.

"See you tonight, honey."

"You going to be ready to go soon?" Shun asked. Natsuko could only nod in reply, since her mouth was full of food. "Ok." Shun left the kitchen to finish up his morning routine and her mother began cleaning up, leaving Natsuko alone at the table. Knowing that meant she was late, Natsuko finished her breakfast with haste, so she, too, could get ready for school.

"Thanks, mom," Natsuko said, pushing away from the table. She was about to rush upstairs when she paused. "Thanks for yesterday, too." When her mother turned around, Natsuko embraced her. Fuyumi returned her daughter's hug. "I feel so much better."

"You're welcome. I'm glad it wasn't worse than it was."

"Ok, now I've really got to go!" Natsuko said, before detaching herself and leaving the kitchen. "I love you, mom!"

"I love you, too, Natsuko."

Natsuko brushed her teeth and hair quickly before returning to her room.

"Get in, we've got to go!" she said to the swan on the bed.

"Where's my breakfast?" Pai complained.

"Shoot! I'll pick something up on the way out, I promise." Grumbling, Pai stepped inside Natsuko's school bag. "Sorry," she said, sheepishly. Sweatshirt and bag in hand, Natsuko returned to the first floor of her house to find Shun waiting at the front door. "I'm almost ready!" Back into the kitchen she went, where Fuyumi handed her a bag containing her bento. "Can I have something else?"

"What would you like?"

"I don't know, anything. I'm still kind of hungry." Natsuko shifted from foot to foot, anxious to be on her way. Her mother scooped another clump of rice out of the cooker, molded it into a ball and wrapped it in a paper towel.

"Plain rice ball," Fuyumi said. Natsuko took the snack from her mother's outstretched hand and suck it inside of her bag.

"Thank you!" Natsuko ran back to the front entrance, set down her bag to put on her shoes and hoodie, then stood up and beamed at Shun. "Not late!"

"Barely," he responded, opening the door. "Don't forget your bag." Natsuko picked the bag up and they left.

"Bye, mom!"

"Have a good day school, you two."

The siblings started off towards the bus stop. Another chilly morning left Natsuko with goosebumps, especially since the school dress code required her to wear a skirt, which was not conducive to heat retention. She made a mental note to keep her warm up pants ready; at least she could wear them on the journey between school and home.

"Are you really ok?" Shun asked, breaking her from her thoughts.

"Yes." She nodded.

"We missed you at dance last night. It wasn't the same without you there."

"I know, I wish I could have gone."

"What happened? Mom said you fainted. That's not like you." They turned the corner.

"I don't think I fainted. I just felt dizzy," Natsuko lied, not yet ready to tell Shun the truth. The noise from morning traffic hung between them as they walked.

"I was worried," Shun said, looking straight ahead.

"I'm sorry," Natsuko replied, both because she had caused her brother worry and because she was still keeping what really happened a secret.

"No, it's not like it was your fault. You didn't try to get dizzy." Natsuko didn't say anything. "I still feel uneasy, though," Shun admitted. "Like you're hiding something."

"Oh, Shun. Why are you making this so hard?" Natsuko said, throwing up her arms in exasperation and stopping.

Shun stopped a pace after her. "So you are hiding something."

Natsuko felt like crying from frustration. "I can't tell you right now." Shun sighed, his gaze a mix of anxiety and hurt. "Shun, I promised I'd tell you if I was in trouble. Trust me. I'm not in trouble." Yet, she thought.

Her brother's shoulders relaxed and Natsuko could see some of the stress leave his face. "I'm sorry, Natsuko. I shouldn't be pressing you like this. I'll trust you."

"Thank you," Natsuko said, surprised at how quiet it came out.

The discussion put aside for now, the Akiyama twins continued towards their destination, feeling more like they had but a few days prior. Only two other commuters were in the shelter when they arrived, half a block later; one, a middle aged housewife whom they sometimes saw there, the other, a male second year student at Mizuwa, whom they didn't really know. He lived further out than they did, however, since he transferred busses at this stop. Shun raised a hand in greeting and the other boy silently nodded, but continued to watch the twins from the corner of his eye; he had seen their argument down the street.

Soon the bus arrived and exchanged old passengers for new. After paying their fare, Natsuko and Shun sat in a pair of open seats; Shun on the aisle and Natsuko against the window as was their morning custom; Shun would get the window seat on the way home. Two mp3 players and two sets of headphones came out of two bags as they plugged in. Their conversation was always sparse on the short bus ride since they felt awkward and uncomfortable talking out loud in such an enclosed area filled with otherwise silent strangers. Soon their time came to exit and the three students made the last leg of the journey on foot. The other boy would either hang back or go ahead, but never walked right with them. Not that they would have minded necessarily, but it had become routine and thus hard to break.

A realization struck Natsuko when they were seated in their classroom. "Shun, let me copy your homework." Shun waved her closer with one hand, putting the other in his bag.

"I made a copy of the worksheets and filled them out in your handwriting," he whispered directly into her ear. "Mom wouldn't let me in to get one of your pens, so it's in blue ink, but I don't think they'll notice." Out of his bag slid two sets of documents, one in black ink, one in blue. Though this was far from the first time they pulled this stunt, Natsuko was still surprised to see her own writing on the page in front of her. She put her hand on the blue set and leaned towards her brother's ear.

"Thank you!" she whispered. Shun smiled and rolled his eyes a little. Natsuko danced back to her desk and bent over the papers, trying to absorb as much knowledge as she could before the bell for fear that she would be called on.

* * *

When lunch finally arrived, Natsuko and Shun took their bentos to the roof, despite the cold weather. Shun liked the roof and besides, the cold kept others away. Natsuko, on the other hand, was freezing. She stuck her hands under her arms between bites and wished that it had been her turn to pick where to eat. Shun did feel slightly guilty for dragging his sister up there, but enjoyed it anyway. He was glad that she had cheered up, and wanted to have this time to spend with his best friend alone to make up for his lonely day yesterday. They talked about what Shun had done in dance yesterday and other topics until the time came to return to class. Natsuko was relieved to be back inside, for even sitting in the sun was not enough to keep the effects of the cold wind at bay. However, she didn't fully warm up until the school day was almost over.

"I don't think I should be too long," Natsuko said, as their classmates packed up. "I just have some papers to sort again."

"I'll wait," Shun replied.

"Ok." Natsuko turned to the door.

"Are there really that many papers that you need your bag?" Shun asked after her. "I'll come help."

"No, you don't have to," Natsuko said, gripping her bag a little tighter and not stopping. "I'll be back in a minute." The real reason was that she had gone all day without having a chance to talk to Pai and she was getting anxious because of it. The hall and stairs were crowded with students trying to leave, which suited Natsuko fine because she found the bathroom empty. Natsuko hid in the last stall and opened her bag.

"Pai, how are you doing?" she asked, apprehensively. A grumpy swan head stared back up her.

"So bored, Natsuko. Don't you have any video games I could play or something?"

"Sorry, I don't. I have a few more things to do, then we'll go home and you can get out."

"This is going to get ooooooo-" The feathers on Pai's neck stood up, his eyes grew wide and he shivered violently.

"Pai?"

"Chaos Dragons!" he shouted quietly. Natsuko felt a shock go through her body and realized that it was not just from alarm at Pai's news, but the building was shaking. Screams came from the hallway. The shaking faded along with a rumbling Natsuko had not paid attention to before. In the hall, people speculated about the likelihood that there had been an earthquake just then, but Natsuko and Pai knew better, and were soon proven right by an explosion coming from the front of the building. The screaming intensified to shrieks of terror and stampeding feet.

"Natsuko," Pai said, urgently. She looked down at him, climbing out of the bag and standing on top of it. He reached into that hidden pocket under his wing and pulled out what might have been the same object he had offered her two days ago in the park. "Become Pretty Cure. Please!" In his wings, he held a brooch in the shape of a swan's head in profile. A black gem stood in place of the eye, set against etched silver feathers.

Natsuko held her hand back, away from the jewelry, lest she accidentally accept it. Somehow she had gotten through the first incident with the dragon woman without much trouble, but this was different. Between the fearful screams still echoing off the bathroom walls and the explosion from earlier, cracks were beginning to show in her smiling exterior. The reality of the situation was coming into focus and it was terrifying.

"Natsuko! You said!" Pai pleaded. Shadows shrouded her face and she pulled away from the item the swan held. "With the power of Pretty Cure, you can stop her!" but Natsuko remained petrified. "What will get you to accept this? Shoot!"

Shun!

Natsuko stood abruptly, sweeping Pai into her bag as she did so. Her shaking hands fumbled with the stall door handle, but she opened it and dashed out.

"What if I tell Shun? Will it place him in danger?"

"No more than he's already in."

No more danger than he's already in. Teachers were trying to lead students to safety, but panic was prevailing in the hall. Children were pushing forward, tightly packed together, even spilling into the bathroom entrance and Natsuko was unable to get past them.

"Shun!" Natsuko shouted over the din, but there was either no response or she could not hear it, so she retreated back into the bathroom. "Shun's in danger! Pai, help me!"

"The window!" squawked the bird, popping his head out of the bag and pointing a wing to the small ventilation window placed high on the far wall. Natsuko ran to it, set the bag down and looked around for something to stand on, but nothing in the bathroom was movable. Thanks to her ballet, she had a decent vertical leap, but the latch was at the top of the window and remained out of reach.

"Natsukoooo!" Pai shrieked with an intensity she had not heard prior from the swan fairy. The outburst caused her to stop and look at her companion.

"There's another Cure!"

They stared at each other, motionless aside from Natsuko's heavy breathing, for a moment before her face began to contort and tears sprung from her eyes.

"Oh my god," she sobbed, wiping the tears away with unsteady hands and experiencing an unexpected but welcome feeling of relief and joy. Her heart and spirits rose, knowing there was someone else. "Where are they?"

"I don't, outside, I think," Pai responded with a light in his face that had not been there before.

Screams still came from outside, but Natsuko noticed inside was quieter. Jogging to the entrance, she saw that the hall was nearly vacant now. "Let's go!" Rushing back, she picked up her bag with the swan half hanging out and charged out into the hallway.

Natsuko was in excellent shape from her dance classes and so she was able to sprint to the main entrance without much difficulty. However, upon her arrival, she found the entrance to be blocked by a mass of students and teachers outside, unable to get back in. Through the glass doors, something huge loomed over them.

A dragon.

The knowledge of a second Cure gave Natsuko strength of mind and body, and the sight of the monster drove her more towards anger than fear. Just as she was about to turn and run off to find another exit, she saw a purple streak, which the dragon, moving much more quickly than its bulk would lead one to believe, intercepted with a punch. A wicked, deep voice said something she could not make out, but noticed its owner, standing atop the gate to the school grounds. Natsuko turned and ran as fast as she could to the other end of the hall, where there was a fire exit. Shoving it open, she now stood across the courtyard from the monster.

"Pai, what do I do?"

He wiggled the rest of the way out of her bag and held up the brooch. "Take this! Hold it up and say 'Precure Take Flight!'" Natsuko took the brooch with one shaking hand and put the bag down with the other. She took one step forward, taking deep, even breaths through her nose, swallowed and held the brooch high in the afternoon light.

"Precure Take Flight!"

* * *

The first rumbling did not phase Shun; even at 14, he was already a veteran when it came to earthquakes. What frightened him was the more powerful explosion which came next. There was a moment of collective silence and worried glances exchanged between students as the first screams from outside began to filter in. Somewhere, shouted "Monster!" in the distance. Shun was the first to move towards the door and peer out into the hallway. As he did, students from classrooms on the other side of the hallway began screaming and surging into the hallway en mass. There was chaos in the school. Shun's first thought was of his sister, and he immediately acted upon it, dashing from the room while he could still maneuver through the hall. He weaved through the crowd with agility only found in a dancer, achieving the stairs before most. The staff room was nearby and already vacated.

"Natsuko!" he shouted, but she was not there. Thinking she may have returned to their classroom, he did the same, though with more difficulty this time because he was now fighting the current.

"No, you have to evacuate!" A teacher grabbed his arm as he passed, but with a twirl, Shun dislodged himself and continued on, only to find the classroom just as empty as the staff room.

"Where would she have gone?" he said aloud, tensely. Shun's bag laid on his desk where he left it, but, "She took her bag. What does that mean?" The roof? He plunged back into the sea of bodies and made it to the stairs where the third years were descending, but their numbers made climbing the stairs against them almost impossible. He gave up on the main staircase and turned to try the one at the end of the south wing, keeping an eye out for his sister, but by then, the halls were clearing out. Shun took the stairs two at a time, all the way to the top, only to find the door to the roof locked tight. "Noooo!" While going back down, he jumped down most of a flight in haste and stumbled, nearly running into the wall, but absorbed the potential impact with his hands and carried on, more cautious. On the landing for the second floor, Shun could see students running through the courtyard through the large window at the end of the hall. If Natsuko was out there, he was wasting his time. Most were too far away for him to tell from looks, but he did not see anyone who moved like his sister. With a gut feeling that she was not out there, Shun took off at a full sprint down the hall once again.

Despite his athleticism, these repeated sprints down the length of the school were starting to wear on him and his breath was coming harder. He slowed at the other end of the hall before mounting the stairs and looked out the window on this side of the building. Someone was in the courtyard below him, standing instead of running.

"There!" he cried, between gasps of air. Natsuko raised her hand in the air and appeared to say something.

* * *

A purple silhouette filed with sparkling light in the shape of Natsuko twirled gracefully and bowed, placing her right hand over her heart. When she straightened up, the swan head brooch was attached to her chest. The figure raised her arms, which were bent at the elbows, bowed her head and cradled it while crouching down onto the balls of her feet as the image of a white egg appeared behind her. The purple background darkened and was pierced by miniscule beams of blue-white and yellow-white light. The swan head brooch shown brightly in the darkness and Natsuko performed a leap, throwing her head arms and head back as the egg shattered behind her. The brooch's light engulfed all briefly before fading while a Pretty Cure stepped forward.

"Two bright eyes in the darkness! The beak which leads the attack! Cure Albireo!"

* * *

"What just happened?" Cure Albireo said, looking around in befuddlement. She was now dressed in a light purple leotard and darker purple, flowing skirt that ended with a yellow accent frill below her knees. On her arms were bicep-length gloves of the same shade as the leotard, decorated with a small, yellow frill on the outside seam, matching rhinestones along side and decorative stitching on the hand. There were thin, unadorned shoes on her feet, also dark purple.

"Cure Albireo!" shouted Pai, reminding her of his presence. "The Chaos Dragon!"

"Uh, right." Cure Albireo's fear had been forgotten while she had been trying to make sense of her transformation and even now, back on track, it remained at bay. "Pai, where's the other Cure?"

Pai concentrated hard for a minute, facing different directions, but was unable to come up with anything. "There's too much Chaos Energy around. I can't sense them."

A roar physically shook the air causing Cure Albireo to shiver. She exchanged a wide-eyed glance with Pai, nodded and with slight apprehension, and walked around the corner of the building. The immense dragon she had seen from the front doors was shaking its head violently and thrashing about with its tail and arms, putting a large group of screaming students and teachers at risk.

"Here I go," Albireo said, swallowing, and took off at a run, much faster than she'd expected to. The power of Pretty Cure, she figured, as she approached the beast. It swung its tail blindly and Cure Albireo could see that the group of cowering children was in its direct path. She put on an extra boost of speed as the tail came down; Albireo raised her arms, and to her own amazement, caught it. Dust flew as the tail's momentum pushed her back a couple of meters before she had stopped its motion completely. Knowing how important balance is, Cure Albireo pushed the tail away and dashed in to sweep a leg out from underneath the behemoth with an expected strength, causing the dragon to fall forward and crash to the ground in front of her.

"Cure Albireo! The Chaos Dragon!" Pai shouted, flying over and landing nearby. She looked up to the gate to see the figure bent over, rubbing its eyes. As she approached, the Chaos Dragon straightened up and turned towards her, which was when she realized it was not the same one as from the other day.

"There are more than one?" Cure Albireo and the Chaos Dragon shouted in both astonishment and unison.

"Who are you?" the long snouted Chaos Dragon growled.

"I'm Cure Albireo, and I'm not going to let you hurt my- these students!"

"Oh, I'm not going to hurt them, I just need their Chaos Energy," the Chaos Dragon said, mockingly. "The one I'm going to hurt is you!" Eyes glowing red, he hurled himself at Cure Albireo, who clenched her fists and ran to meet him.

* * *

Next episode:

"Hey, this is Natsuko Akiyama and… Uh, hey Shun."

"What are you doing?"

"Nothing? Heh heh."

"You're hiding something. Why are you sweating?"

"Because it's hot?"

"But you're never hot."

"Natsuko, the Chaos Dragon! What about the other Cure?"

"Shut up, Pai!"

"What is that thing?"

"Nothing! Next time on Northern Cross Pretty Cure! Please read it!"

"What's a Pretty Cure? Natsuko?"

* * *

Ending song: ganBALANCE de Dance, N.C.P.C. ver.


	5. Episode 3, part 1

Northern Cross Pretty Cure episode 3

Opening song: Onegai Precure, Northern † Cross!

Almost as soon as Cure Deneb had half collapsed against the school's wall, the swan she clutched gave a surprised cry and struggled against her grasp.

"Deneb, another Cure appeared! I can sense it!" Deneb felt a sense of alarm as she let Zeta go, and he jumped to the ground next to her.

"What? Where?"

"The front of the school! They must be fighting Arbo!" Zeta cried excitedly.

"Then they're in trouble!" Deneb shouted as adrenaline surged into her system again, and she launched herself off the ground, towards the combatants. Rounding the corner, she could see two blurs on a collision course. Cure Deneb aimed herself at the purple blur; the one that was clearly not Arbo. Just in time did she reach the purple figure, and Deneb tackled the other Cure out of the air. The two of them tumbled in the dust and rocks before coming to a stop and separating.

"Go! It's too dangerous!" Deneb shouted over her shoulder while kneeling on the ground and shielding the other Cure with her body. When she did not hear retreating footsteps, Cure Deneb turned around. The other Cure was also a girl, clad in a tight top and long, loosely flowing skirt which were colored with the same shades of purple as her own outfit, except that the fringe was a sapphire yellow as opposed to her light blue. She had an incredulous expression on her face.

"What the hell was that for?" the other Cure shouted, angrily.

Before Cure Deneb could answer, a high pitched exclamation came from to their side.

"Pai?" Zeta was flying towards the iridescent swan, who in turn was, approaching the two Cures. Pai landed, and Zeta did the same right next to him. "What's going on?"

"Zeta!"

"Are you idiots done?" Everyone turned towards Arbo, who was looking very cross at this disruption.

"Cure Deneb, you have to work together to defeat him!" Zeta urged. Deneb looked at the other Cure, who stood up and brushed herself off. She still looked mad, but said, "Well, let's go!" Deneb nodded and stood up, too, then she followed the other Cure as she charged the enemy again.

As they closed in on a ready Arbo, Deneb threw a kick, but retracted it for being too close to her new companion, which caused her to have to quickly dodge a punch from the Chaos Dragon. The other Cure managed to throw some of her own punches at Arbo, but he deflected them all easily. Deneb tried another kick, which Arbo and the other Cure both dodged.

"Watch it!" the other Cure said.

"Konton!"

A huge foot slammed into Cure Deneb's back, punting her over the other two fighters. More dust flew up as she landed ungracefully and skidded in the dirt. When she looked up, grimacing in pain and exhaustion, she saw the other Cure trying to defend from two attackers at once. Deneb raced back to the fight and, passing on the other Cure's left, punched out at the Konton, but as she did, her partner was already in the process of winding up and Deneb collided with her fist, unbalancing them both.

The second Cure screamed in frustration and was taken out by a roundhouse kick from the Chaos Dragon.

"Cure Deneb! Cure Albireo! Retreat! Let's regroup!" Zeta shouted from the sidelines. Albireo scrambled to her feet and rushed to the two swans, holding her side, while Deneb was helped over by another blow from the Konton. She got up slowly, but Arbo and the Konton made no move to approach.

"You have to work together! You can't fight your own battles out there!" Zeta reprimanded the two Cures, who were watching their opponents on the other side of the courtyard silently. Arbo said something they could not hear, and the Konton stomped off to attend to the collection of Chaos Energy.

"Ok," Cure Albireo said, after a moment. "Cure Deneb?" Deneb turned to look at her. "I'll attack him head on, while you try to get around his back." Albireo met her gaze. Subconsciously, Deneb felt better about having orders to obey and she nodded. Arbo had begun walking towards them while they spoke, and after returning Deneb's nod, Albireo rushed out to meet him.

Albireo was quick, but she had trouble avoiding Arbo's equally fast blows so was forced onto the defensive. Deneb's attempt to sneak around behind Arbo was noticed by both Albireo and Arbo, and Arbo turned as he attacked, trying to keep both Cures in his sight.

"How am I supposed to attack?" Deneb said aloud. Even though she had closed in on the Chaos Dragon and managed to get behind him, Arbo continuously flipped his tail back and forth, preventing her from getting in close. When Arbo turned and slipped Deneb a smug grin, Albireo launched herself at him,thinking she had an opening, but it had been a feint. He had expected the move, batted her hand out of the way and landed a strong punch to her gut, knocking her backwards and to the ground.

Arbo chuckled as he turned towards Cure Deneb. "This is pathetic! You could train for a thousand years and you still wouldn't be able to match my strength!" Scowling, Deneb wiped a bead of sweat off her forehead and stepped backwards. Behind Arbo, she could see Albireo slowing picking herself off the ground. Arbo advanced on her, but Deneb continued to back off until Albireo had stood completely up, then they both charged. Deneb dodged right as Albireo approached, avoiding Arbo's punch and throwing her own. Surprisingly, her fist impacted the side of his head, causing it to rock back slightly. Arbo turned towards her slowly, with an expression that mixed confusion, disbelief and annoyance on his face. Deneb ducked right again into a crouch, so she was 180 degrees to where she started. Arbo's gaze followed her all the way, preventing him from seeing Cure Albireo heading his way. Albireo hurdled Cure Deneb and sunk her fist into his face. A roar of pain escaped Arbo's throat as he reeled backwards from the blow, but was cut short as both of Deneb's fists slammed into his stomach, sending the Chaos Dragon flying into the school's wall, creating a cloud of dust as old plaster shattered and cinder blocks cracked under the force of the impact.

"Uh, we should do more of that," Deneb said, impressed by her own power, while the two swans cheeredthen on from the sidelines.

"Yeah! Let's take him!" Albireo started to run towards where Arbo had landed, but Deneb stopped her.

"Wait!" Albireo skidded to a halt and looked at her fellow Cure. "There's too much dust. We can't see him." Her warning proved valuable, as with another roar, this time full of rage, Arbo came shooting out of the dust cloud, eyes blazing red. "Take that side!" Deneb yelled, and they split up quickly enough that Arbo's fist only displaced air.

Rushing back in, Cures Deneb and Albireo attacked from opposite sides with punches and kicks, keeping pace with Arbo's movements so that he remained in the middle. The enraged Chaos Dragon stopped most of their attacks, but was unable to do anything else since his attention was split between them. When he turned to face Albireo, instead of attacking, Deneb shouted "Albireo!" grabbed a hold of Arbo's arm with both of her own and hugged it tightly to her body. Predictably, Arbo looked back to Deneb and raised his other hand for a devastating punch, but Cure Albireo planted a roundhouse kick directly into his midsection, knocking the wind out of him and sending spittle flying from his mouth. As he doubled over, Arbo saw Deneb set her feet and wind up, then send a punch squarely into the side of his head, knocking him off his feet again.

The two Cures stood there breathing heavily, and watched Arbo roll to a stop in the dust and gravel. Their companion swans joined them, flapping quietly down to the ground near their feet.

"I knew you could do it!" Zeta cheered.

"I don't think it's over yet, Zeta," Cure Deneb said.

"Don't forget about that other dragon thing," agreed Cure Albireo.

As if on cue, Arbo summoned the Konton to him. The enormous dragon took its place at Arbo's side, opposite the two battered, dirty and bruised Cures.

"Animals use their tail to balance," Albireo said, staring down the enemy. "If we can unbalance either of them, we'll get an advantage."

"I couldn't get to Arbo's tail before," Deneb replied. "His is too quick, but the Konton just swings it around." Looking determinedly at Albireo, Deneb realised for the first time, that despite the exertion and pain, her fear had diminished to only a fraction of what it had been before the fight began. "I'll grab its tail."

Albireo stared hard at the other Cure, taking stock of what she was planning. "Ok. Call for me when you have it. I'll keep Arbo busy til then." Deneb turned to go. "Good luck."

Deneb paused, then said, "Thanks, you, too." And with that, the two Cures jumped back into the fight.

The Konton might have been smiling as it watched Cure Deneb running directly at it, but with a mouth like that, it was difficult to tell. As she did so, an idea formed in Deneb's head. "It's so cliche, it might work," she thought aloud.

Deneb reigned up as she reached the Konton, but then immediately broke out into a sprint, throwing off the Konton's aim enough to cause its punch to miss. Continuing on, she went for the large opening between its legs. The Konton kicked out, but at that close range, Deneb dodged easily and darted behind it. She jumped up, grabbed the tail with both hands and yanked down on it. The unexpected force she applied caused the Konton to tip backwards and brought a smile to Deneb's face.

"Albireo!"

Immediately, Cure Albireo turned away from Arbo and dashed towards the Konton.

"What?"Arbo exclaimed.

Albireo leapt from a distance, which, if she were not in Cure form, would have been completely unreasonable, but she was, and her momentum carried her to her target. A fierce scream left her mouth as she approached, fist first, hit the scaly muzzle of the beast with a powerful punch, sending it tumbling directly over Deneb's head. Deneb yelped and let go of its tail, falling to the ground in the process.

Without any prompting or foreknowledge, Cure Albireo threw her hands above her head and shouted.

* * *

"Precure Albireo Twin Parallel Laser!"

As she did, she brought her arms down in front of her, hands extended in finger guns. Two beams of yellow light shot out from them, pierced the falling Konton and burned the ground where they touched.

* * *

"Konton!" As the Konton cried out its name, its entire body began to glow until it was entirely white, at which point, it violently burst into a grey red smoke.

Upon seeing the destruction rained down by this Cure, Arbo turned and fled, disappearing into the shadow of the school.

Cure Albireo landed lightly on her feet and looked around, amazed as the device which had been used to execute the task of collecting Chaos Energy evaporated into the same grey red smoke released by the Konton.

Meanwhile, Cure Deneb unwrapped her arms from around her head and peered out from between them. She laid curled up in a ball on her back in the dirt, almost directly under where the Konton had exploded but moments prior. Rolling over and getting to her hands and knees, she watched in surprise as the deep gash in the ground from Albireo's attack vanished. Albireo herself stood not far from her, still staring in disbelief. Deneb got up and walked over, brushing herself off. She was partially of a mind to tell Albireo off for using her attack so close to where she had fallen, but the excitement and relief brought on by their victory overwhelmed those thoughts and she did not comment. The two Cures and their mascots gathered silently.

"See, I knew you could do it!" said Zeta.

"We did it," Albireo said, still amazed. Pai flapped his little wings up to her and she caught him in her arms.

"Woo hoo!" he cried.

Cure Deneb shushed him. She was looking towards the school, so everyone followed her gaze. The group of students and teachers and students who had been trapped by the entrance had seemingly fallen asleep, but were now stirring.

"Let's get out of here," Deneb said, looking anxious.

"Wait, I want to look for my brother," Albireo replied.

Deneb gestured at her outfit. "Like that?" The purple and yellow outfit Albireo wore was certainly not the one she came to school in.

"Ok, good point," she said, hurriedly. "But where do we go?"

Deneb opened her arms for Zeta, who flew into the embrace. "There," she said, and started running towards the wall. With their Cure powers, they easily leapt over top of it and landed safely on the ground below. To the east of the school were houses, but also plenty of greenery. Deneb quickly slipped behind a group of bushes and crouched down, followed closely by Albireo. The ground was littered with cigarette butts and other trash, so they did not set the swans down.

"Zeta, how do we get back to normal?" Deneb asked.

"Well that's simple, really. Just will it!"

"Just will it?"

"Yes, that's right."

Deneb looked down in annoyance. "That doesn't mean anything to me. Explain it further."

Zeta shrugged his shoulders. "That's really all there is. All you have to do to revert is want that to happen. Just think about being back to normal."

Cures Deneb and Albireo exchanged a doubtful glance, but gave it a try anyway. The two of them closed their eyes and focused on their normal lives and sure enough, they felt something happening. When they opened their eyes up again, Cure Deneb and Cure Albireo had been replaced with two ordinary middle school girls who examined themselves, then appraised the other. Teiko didn't remember having seen this girl before; they certainly were not in the same class. But then again, there were some hundred kids at Mizuwa, so Teiko did not feel bad. Natsuko, too, failed to recognize her new partner, but skipped right to introductions.

"I'm Natsuko Akiyama, class 2-4. It's nice to meet you."

A motor started somewhere nearby followed by a grinding, squealing sound that they knew to be the school's gate opening.

"This is Pai," Natsuko continued.

"Hey," said Pai, raising a wing in greeting.

"My name is Teiko Hakucho and I'm in class 2-2. This is Zeta."

"Let's work hard together," Zeta said.

"I think we should go back inside now," Teiko said while glancing nervously towards the gate. Natsuko just nodded. Together, after checking that no one was around, they made their way quickly to the gate and peered around the corner. The courtyard was full of students now, just milling about aimlessly. Many had spacy looks on their faces, so Teiko and Natsuko judged that they could slip back in unnoticed, which they did, and quickly blended in with the aimless students. All around them, there were murmurs of confusion and disorientation, as well as someone crying in the distance, but they kept going; Natsuko's head swinging back and forth, scanning the crowd for any sign of Shun. The loudspeaker crackled as they neared the school building.

"Attention students. Please return to your classrooms for attendance to be taken, then collect your belongings and return home safely. All clubs and after school activities are cancelled. If you are in need of assistance, please come to the principal's office. Thank you."

The two girls had stopped to listen to the announcement and once it was finished, Natsuko turned to Teiko. "I really want to find my brother, but can we meet at the front gate?" she said, visibly anxious. "I think we should talk."

Teiko nodded. "Ok."

"Thanks, I'll see you soon," Natsuko said, and took off at a run with Pai still cradled in her arms. Left behind with her own swan, Teiko walked over to the side of the building where she had dropped her bag before the fight and retrieved it. The bag's contents were undisturbed and Teiko opened it for Zeta to jump into. Bag in hand, Teiko reentered the building through the front door (since the side door by which she had exited did not have a handle on the outside) and made her way back to her second-floor classroom. Students were beginning to shake off the lethargy of having recently awoken from a strange sleep, but the hallways were still subdued and lacked the clamour of a normal school day. Her classmates who hadn't yet left school stood around awkwardly, but it was not long before the teacher returned and called roll. They were dismissed, and after double checking that she had what she needed, Teiko left the building to wait at the gate.

* * *

Natsuko found Shun in the front entryway. He was standing near the staircase, as if he had just come down instead of going up, like the rest of the student body above first year was doing. She practically tossed Pai aside and threw her arms around her brother's neck while tears of joy and relief trickled down her cheeks.

"I'm so glad you're safe!"

Shun hugged her back. "Yeah, I'm ok. I was worried about you, too," he said, in a sad tone.

Natsuko let go and looked up; Shun's eyes were clear, alert and locked on her own. Her smile drooped.

"They said we have to go back to class," he said, turning away from her ever so slightly. An outside observer would not have noticed, but Natsuko heard what was said. She bent over to pick Pai up off the floor where, to his credit and annoyance, he remained still enough to pass as a stuffed animal and not draw attention. Together, the siblings mounted the stairs and ascended to the second story. As they reached the landing, however, Natsuko stopped.

"I forgot my bag!" she exclaimed, bringing her hand to her mouth.

"Where is it?" Shun asked.

"Um, it's- follow me." Natsuko lead her brother through the bleary-eyed mass of students and down the side staircase. "Hold this," she said as she stepped through the building's exit. Shun put his hand out to prevent the door from closing. Natsuko walked a few steps out into the now undamaged and empty courtyard to retrieve her bag. As she rose with it in one hand and Pai in the other, she heard the door click shut behind her. When she turned, Shun stood outside, too. "Shun," she said, crossly.

"I saw what happened."

The bag fell back to the ground, but Natsuko clutched Pai closer, which was admittedly uncomfortably for him.

"Why didn't you tell me you were in trouble?" Shun continued. Natsuko could feel the blood drain from her face. "I watched the whole thing. What was that?"

Natsuko could not answer him, but no longer because she did not want to, but because she herself did not know. When she failed to speak, Shun tsked and turned away with a scowl. At that gesture, Natsuko's worry transformed into anger.

"I'm not hiding it anymore, Shun," she said angrily. "I'm going home." Shun turned back towards her, taken aback, while Natsuko turned towards the front if the school. "Come with me," she demanded, as she began walking. Shun followed.

The trek back to their classroom was silent and tense, during which, Natsuko felt a whole array of emotions. After their teacher had called the last name on the class roster, Natsuko walked out decisively, knowing her brother would be close behind. The twins reciprocated emotionally and in the rare events where they were at odds, anger could flick between them instantly.

* * *

Finally, as the number of students filtering out of the building had diminished and most were already on their way home, Teiko caught sight of Natsuko walking with someone who looked remarkably similar to her, which must have been her brother. As they approached, Teiko could see that the other girl was mad, and when she got close enough, looked sideways at Teiko and shook her head. Teiko just stared at the pair, who passed without even slowing down, jaw falling open as they grew smaller the further away they got.

"What?" Teiko said to herself. Zeta poked a cautious head out of the bag to see what Teiko was inquiring about, and saw the Akiyama children walking down the sidewalk.

"Where are they going?"

"That's what I'd like to know," Teiko huffed. "She's the one who asked me to stay. Fine." Adjusting the bag on her shoulder, Teiko took off towards her own home.

"Teiko," Zeta said, but did not immediately follow it up.

"Teiko," he repeated. "You did a good job today." She half smiled, still upset by the snub. Zeta crawled all the way out of the bag and into the arm Teiko offered. "I'm glad the two of you were able to work to work together."

Teiko stopped suddenly, turned on the bird and said, "Did you see that laser thing she did? She almost hit me!" then continued walking.

"Teamwork will be important in stopping the Chaos Dragons when they come back."

Teiko paused again. Once they got home, there would be no privacy for them to talk, and they needed to talk. Her mother would be waiting for her, so she couldn't stay out long, so she adjusted the route home in her head to give them more time together before setting off again.

"I'm confused, Zeta. You said I had to help you save Earth from the Chaos Dragons, but then this other Cure shows up. I thought I would be doing this by myself."

"I never said you'd be alone."

"But you never mentioned other Cures, either. How many are there?"

Zeta's expressions became very serious. "That's a good question."

"So what, ten? Twenty? You don't know?"

"I don't know."

Teiko stopped and looked at the swan. "How do you not know? How did you get sent here without knowing how many Cures there are? Isn't that, like, something that would be important to your mission?"

Zeta returned her gaze. "It's a good question, because the answer has always been one." Teiko looked puzzled and nervous at this news. "Historically, only one Cygnet has been sent to each world to help protect it from the Chaos Dragons. One Cygnet, one hero. But the Cygnus has sent two of us to Earth. Pai was my classmate. This must mean that it is very important to protect the Earth. And if Earth needs double the protection, the Chaos Dragons must have placed a high value upon it. There may be something here that the Chaos Dragons are anxious to get a hold of." Teiko adjusted her glasses, but her it was her eyes that were out of focus. "I would not be surprised if there were more than one Chaos Dragon here."

Teiko swallowed and closed her eyes. Her hands were getting cold in the shade, but she could not bring herself to move. She was suddenly weary.

"Sorry, Teiko, I didn't mean to worry you."

After a few quiet breaths, she felt like she could move again. "No, it's not your fault," she told Zeta.

"I was saying that teamwork was important earlier because that's what I was thinking."

"I know we have to work together," Teiko said, continuing on her way home. "I- I just don't know about her."

"Maybe there was a reason she couldn't meet with you today," Zeta offered. "She did find her brother, after all."

"Yeah, but she asked me to wait, *then* went to find him."

"Teiko, try not to dismiss her so quickly," Zeta said.

Teiko let out a long sigh. "It's not like I'm against her. I just don't know. Besides, I don't really have a choice, do I?" Zeta was suddenly jolted when Teiko's body shuddered from the cold, so he snuggled up against her, trying to share as much warmth with her as he could offer. They turned a corner and were in the sunlight again. The Hakucho apartment was not much farther from here and the rest of their trip was made in silence. Up two flights of stairs and down to the end of the exterior hallway, Teiko opened the door to her family's small apartment.

"I'm home," she said, closing the door behind her and taking off her shoes.

"Welcome back," Akiko said from the kotatsu. Her mother looked over from her laptop and leaned back. "You took your stuffed animal to school with you?"

A shock ran through Teiko's body and she could feel her heart beating fast. "Haha, yeah, I don't know, just felt like it," she said. Akiko closed the laptop and did not pursue the topic any further.

"There was something on the news just a minute ago about your school." Another shock. "Is everything ok? They didn't give any details."

Teiko wasn't sure if she was blushing or blanching. "Everyone's ok. There was some kind of thing; something happened, but I don't know what it was."

"Well, I'm glad everyone is ok," her mother said, rising. "I suppose I should start thinking about dinner." She walked into the kitchen.

While watching her mother, Teiko wondered if she should leave Zeta in her room, where Harumi most certainly was, or if she should just keep him with her. To show she had nothing to fear from the rest of her family noticing his presence, she decided the later.

"Mom, can I play video games?"

"Yes. What do you have for homework? Are you all caught up from your absence the other day?" Akiko said from the kitchen, putting on an apron.

Teiko set her bag down just inside the living room space, walked over to the kotatsu and placed Zeta next to it, then turned on the TV and her video game console while answering, "Yes, I got all of that done. I don't have much. Just a few things." The Lambert Tactics: FiNAL NiNE logo appeared on the TV and she loaded her save file before logging into the server. She walked back with the NiNE-AXiS controller in and scooted under the kotatsu. Instantly, her body relaxed from the rush of heat on her bare legs and Teiko took a moment to savor the feeling before starting the game.

Teiko selected her seven-character party and placed them on one side of a gridded arena. A short dialog between the opposing sides progressed, then they clashed. Teiko maneuvered her units around the arena as their turns arose and engaged the enemy. Her characters attacked with weapons and spells, and soon the challengers fell one by one until their entire team had been eliminated. Teiko smiled as the opposing commander admitted defeat and grudgingly praised her ability. Her team was awarded spoils; money, experience and treasure; then the game returned to the menu.

Zeta noticed that he had been staring, beak hanging wide open, the whole time. Teiko began another match with someone from South Korea and proceeded to dismantle their team with ease as well. Her swan companion watched in amazement and once the game returned to the menu again, he saw Teiko's rank.

"What's S+ mean?" he asked, causing Teiko to fumble the controller and grab his beak.

"Oops, I forgot to turn the sound down..." she said aloud in a low voice, for the benefit of her mother, still in the kitchen. Akiko had paid no attention anyway.

After several more victories, only one of which was close, Harumi, having completed her homework, joined Teiko and watched her sister play in between drawings. Later, their mother served dinner, and afterward, placed two freshly made portions into the refrigerator.

The rest of the evening went as normal: Teiko worked on her homework, Ayumi returned home from cram school, followed by their father, just before bed.

Teiko felt good. She had not played Lambert Tactics since she had met Zeta. The familiar and immersion of it served to help wipe the day's unpleasant events away. She had not forgotten, but they seemed so much longer ago. That night, after a hot bath and snuggled into bed with her stuffed animals and Zeta, Teiko Hakucho slept like a rock.

* * *

Natsuko and Shun arrived back home not much later than they would normally have, if Natsuko had actually had her class representative duties. The living room was vacant, but the tv was playing a news report about the incident at Mizuwa; something about mass teen fainting. They greeted their mother from the other room and climbed the stairs. At the top, Natsuko opened the opened the door and motioned Shun inside, then closed it behind them.

"What did you see?" she demanded. Shun walked over and sat in the beanbag chair.

"I was running around looking for you and stopped at the north end of the hall. You were outside, then there was this flash and you were wearing some strange purple clothes, then you and someone else fought some dragon in front of the school." Shun shook his head and pushed his hair back with one hand. "That sounds so crazy."

"Did it look like I was in trouble?" Natsuko asked.

"You were moving so fast. I don't really know what all happened, but yeah, I mean, a dragon?"

"We're all in trouble!" Natsuko snapped, meaner than she had intended. "Sorry. I- there's just so much." She opened her bag and looked in. "Pai, would you mind explaining?"

"Is that a good idea?" Came an uncertain voice from inside the bag. Shun was confused.

"It doesn't matter. He already knows. He saw it, didn't you hear that?"

Reluctantly, Pai crawled out of Natsuko's school bag and turned to look at Shun. "Hey, that's my seat."

Shun's mouth dropped open at the sight of the talking bird. Pai jumped and flew down to the floor next to the chair and looked at Shun expectantly.

Shun continued to gape for another moment, before rising with an "O- ok," and sitting on the floor. Pai claimed his rightful throne and began to explain the situation to the bewildered boy.

Once he had laid out all the details of the Cygnus, cygnets, Cures, Chaos Dragons, the two Chaos Dragons who were on Earth, Kontons and Chaos Energy, Pai sat back and asked, "Any questions?"

Shun, who had regained his composure and accepted this strange, new reality, closed his eyes and thought. When he opened them, he turned to Natsuko, who was sitting on her bed. "So you want me to stay out of this?"

Natsuko's head drooped and lolled to one side. "No," she said softly. "I need you to support me." She looked back to her brother. "You think it hurt when I was hiding this from you? How do you think I felt while hiding it? I knew you'd find out; we've never kept secrets from each other. But I wanted to keep you safe. When that black dragon said it didn't matter if you knew, because we were all in the same danger, I was relieved, but also more worried. At least I didn't have to keep it a secret anymore." Natsuko gave a small, sad smile. "I may need to ask you to help me with things. Regular life is going to go on while this is happening. I, I'm not the best student, but I need to get good grades to stay in dance. I'm not saying to cheat!" she added hastily. "But I don't know what I'll have to do. If I'll have to leave school to go fight these things, or skip dance. And mom can't know about this."

Shun nodded, but couldn't keep the smile from his face. "I'll help you, don't worry. That's what big brothers are for!"

"You're not my big brother," Natsuko said, flatly.

"Sure I am! I'm one centimeter taller than you!"

She flung a pillow at her brother.

Later, they had dinner with their parents, neither of which had heard of the events at Mizuwa earlier in the day. Shun took a proactive approach and told them about it, but explained that they didn't know the details and it hadn't affected them, to keep Fuyumi from worrying over him and his sister.

In the evening, Shun did his best to help explain the math homework to Natsuko before they retired to their respective rooms and prepared to sleep.

* * *

School was open the next day since the administration could not determine that whatever happened yesterday caused any temporary or lasting damage, or if it even happened at all. A strange energy could be felt among the student population, though, and wild rumors could be heard in the halls.

"Ghosts!"

"Government mind control!"

"Aliens!" "..."

"The school is cursed!"

"Angels!"

"What are you talking about? Nothing happened."

Between classes, Teiko waded through the chatting students clogging the hallway. Focus seemed to be non-existent today, and even some of the teachers were still a little fog-headed. When her classmates asked her opinion of the mystery from the day before, Teiko just laughed nervously and said she didn't know, although that alien theory hit a little too close to home. Before she made it to the bathroom, a familiar figure stopped her.

"Here," Natsuko handed Teiko a small, folded slip of paper. "Message me." She was gone just as quickly as she arrived, leaving Teiko to stare after her. Some girls nearby who saw the exchange started talking excitedly among themselves. Teiko overheard their comments, and her face turned bright red, then she hurried along.

Safely in the privacy of a stall, Teiko unfolded the note. As expected, there was a phone number written in neat, lilac colored letters. Whether to do as she was bidden or not weighed at the front of her mind and for some time, she stared at the paper, unmoving, lost in thought.

That ended when the bell signaled the beginning of the next class. Teiko groaned aloud; she had spent the whole break staring into space and did not even use the toilet. Knowing she'd have to hold it for another hour, Teiko hurried back to class 2-2 and spent the next class uncomfortable.

* * *

Natsuko's phone chimed. She put her bento down on the bench next to her and fished it out, flipped it open and read the message.

[What's your name again?]

"Ugh, she didn't even remember my name?" she said, typing a reply.

"Who?" Shun asked.

"Uh, the other girl."

[my name is natsuko akiyama sry bout b4 meet aftr school?]

"The other Cure?"

"Yeah."

"Who is it?"

Natsuko debated internally for a moment, before saying, "I don't know if I should tell you. Not because I don't know, because I do know, but because I don't know if she'd want you knowing."

"I'll find out sooner or later, if this goes on for a while."

[Ok. Where?]

Natsuko could not argue with that, and knew he meant no harm with the comment, so she said, "I know, but I want to at least ask her first."

[gate again? ^^;]

Shun agreed to that with a nod. "Meeting her later?"

[Ok. I'll be there.]

"Yeah." Natsuko closed her phone. She was about to ask Shun to leave for dance before her, so he would not see Teiko, because then he could recognize her later, but realized it was basically impossible to keep her identity a secret. Even if Shun did not see her himself, plenty of others probably would and any one of them could inquire of Shun or tell him outright about Teiko. "If you see us, would you not say anything today?"

"Sure. I'll keep a secret." Shun grinned.

"Thanks." Natsuko exchanged the phone for her bento and continued eating.

* * *

Eyecatcher A: Chibi Teiko in a kindergarten rain outfit walks in the rain, followed by a number of colorful cygnets. They splash through a puddle.


	6. Episode 3, part 2

Eyecatcher B: Chibi Natsuko and Shun dance as Clara and the Nutcracker. They bow.

* * *

The difference between yesterday and today, aside from the obvious Chaos Dragon attack, was that when Teiko waited by the gate after school, Natsuko had met her, alone. Teiko had apprehensions about meeting Natsuko and had even considered not messaging her at all, but knew she had a duty and agreed, even though her first impression of Natsuko left a faint, unpleasant taste in her mouth.

"Hi, thanks for waiting. I'm sorry I ditched you yesterday. I didn't think about my brother at the time." Natsuko bonked herself lightly on the head with a fist. "I've got dance in about an hour, but I thought we could talk for a while. I know a good place where we won't be disturbed. Want to go?"

"Ok," was all Teiko responded with. Natsuko motioned for her to follow, and they began walking, Teiko remaining a pace behind her companion. Much of the walk was conducted in silence; Natsuko feeling too out in the open and Teiko not knowing what to say.

Eventually, the two crossed a four lane road and entered a park.

"Here we are." Natsuko gave a grand, sweeping gesture as an introduction to the green space.

The park was beautiful. Golden afternoon light filtered through the trees and the shadows of leaves danced on the ground at their feet. Teiko found herself wondering how she had never been here, despite living in this town her whole life. Together, they walked the path and took a seat on the first bench they came to. As before, no one else was around, so the two colorful swans popped out of the girls' bags and joined them in the bench.

"Since we'll be working together from now on, we should get to know each other better. It will help our teamwork. This is what we do in dance: Each person introduces themselves, then we go around the circle, well, we only have two-"

"What about us?" Pai interrupted.

"Sorry! I was just thinking about us. You may certainly join in!" Pai looked appeased. "We'll go around the circle, then, or the line," she said, looking down the bench, "and each say something about ourselves. The last person gets to pick the next topic. Ok? I'll start." Natsuko shifted on the bench so that she was facing more towards Teiko. "My name is Natsuko Akiyama, as I hope you still remember. I'm 14 years old and in class 2-2 at Mizuwa." She gestured towards Pai, who was sitting next to her. He stood and puffed his chest out.

"I'm Pai, a beautiful swan fairy from the Cygnus Kingdom and I'm three rotations old," he said, proudly. Pointing both wings at the other bird, he said, "And this is my friend, Zeta!" indicating that it was his turn.

"I, am indeed Zeta, a super cute swan fairy from the Cygnus Kingdom. I am also three rotations old, and if you're wondering, we know each other from the academy!" he said, pointing at Pai. Zeta's introduction had sounded to Teiko like he was trying to out pompous Pai. She rolled her eyes internally. Her turn had come up, so she shifted on the bench and adjusted her glades.

"I'm Teiko Hakucho, 13, and in class 2-2."

Natsuko smiled and looked at her expectantly. When she did not continue, Natsuko prompted her. "You were the last one, so you pick the next topic and start."

"Ok," Teiko said, but her head was all fog. She grasped, but no thoughts, no topics would come to mind. Getting more nervous at the three pairs of eyes watching her, she finally looked at the two swans sitting between the two girls and asked the easy question. "How did you meet Pai?"

"You mean how did we meet our swan friends?" Natsuko asked.

"Y, yeah."

Natsuko watched her.

"Oh yeah. I go again." Teiko shifted on the bench once more. "I met Zeta down by the lake. Actually, I had seen him flying overhead with some other birds in the morning. Then I went to the lake to look for him. I thought I wouldn't find him, but then he flew right down near me. I took some pictures; it was really cute. Want to see?" Teiko said, reaching for her phone.

"What? You still have those?" Zeta exclaimed, jumping up. "No, delete them!"

Teiko smiled and held her phone away from the swan. "But this was our first meeting. We'll never have pictures like this again."

Zeta quieted down and looked away slowly. Teiko thought she saw him blush.

"Let's see!" said Natsuko.

Teiko loaded one up and leaned over so Natsuko could see.

"Hey, bring it down here!" Pai said, jumping up and craning his long neck. She did, and as they looked at the pictures of Zeta, Teiko realized how open she was being. There were only a few, and the others liked them, laughing and fawning, but that meant the slideshow was over quickly. Teiko folded up her phone and held it in both hands on her lap. She was quiet for a while. Natsuko sensed her discomfort and gave her time.

How much time had passed? Had it only been a few days? Teiko had a strange feeling about how long she had been a Pretty Cure; her transformation was something which had both always been there and was brand new. Perhaps this was the result of the trauma she had experienced from Arbo's first attack. Who could be expected to deal with such a thing? But she had, and she survived, then did it again. Even with the defeat of the Konton, those memories still stirred up fear in her stomach. Teiko swallowed and took a deep breath before continuing.

"Zeta explained some of why he was here, then that was when Arbo attacked us."

"Who's that?" Natsuko asked quietly.

"He's the Chaos Dragon who attacked the school," Teiko answered. Natsuko nodded her understanding, but did not speak. "Zeta gave me a brooch so I could transform," she said, removing it from her bag to show Natsuko. Teiko was not sure why, but somehow this act felt very personal, and she was glad to put it away a few moments later. "I kind of fought him off, but mostly we just ran away." Teiko took another deep breath. "That's it. That's how I met Zeta."

Natsuko could see Teiko's muscles relaxing after having finished her story. She felt a bit sorry for the other girl, since, while still terrifying, her own first encounter was not as traumatic.

"It was actually here that I met Pai," Natsuko began, looking up at the trees, then at the swan. "This weirdo jumped up behind me and shouted 'Become Pretty Cure!' I thought I was being attacked or something and smacked him with my bag." Natsuko shook her head, while Teiko crashed a small smile. "Pai tried to explain what he was doing, but wasn't very convincing. Well, that all changed the next day when we came back here and met a Chaos Dragon of our own." Teiko looked up at that; Zeta looked at Teiko.

"Here?" she asked.

"Yes, right by that bench," said Natsuko, pointing to the next one down the path.

"Are you sure we should be here then?" Asked Teiko, nervously.

Natsuko gave her a half grin. "I don't think there's any threat. Really, I think the Chaos Dragons could show up wherever they wanted to. This place feels peaceful. I like it." A lull. "I don't actually know the name of the Dragon I met here. I don't think she mentioned it. It was definitely a woman, though. Or female, I mean. Her skin, or scales, I guess it was, were completely black, and she had on a black dress, too."

"She was incredibly powerful," Pai chimed in.

"But we didn't fight. I don't know why, but she didn't want to. In fact, the first time I transformed was at school when we met."

"I would be interested to learn her name," Zeta said, after a pause. "I was telling Teiko before that I thought there may be more than one Chaos Dragon here on Earth. Looks like I was right," he said, then under his breath, "of course." Sneaking a glance around to see if anyone had heard him or seen his smirk, he continued, "I know Earth was supposedly a prime target because of the levels of Chaos Energy generated by humans-"

"Wait, Chaos Energy is generated by humans?" Natsuko blurted out.

"To be technical, it's generated by chaos, and that's what humans generate, so that's basically the same thing."

"How do we generate chaos?"

Zeta looked at Natsuko with a pitying expression. "Little girl, open your eyes," he said gently. "Humans create their own suffering. War, hatred, fear, stress; these are everyday subjects for you. The norm. You're used to them. You accept them. These are the reasons Earth has so much Chaos Energy." No one said anything for a minute. "I've been growing more and more concerned that the Chaos Dragons might be planning something big for Earth. And now that there are two of us," he gestured towards Pai, "two of you," then towards Teiko and Natsuko, "and two of them…" he trailed off. "Now my concern is that this isn't the end of it."

A breeze blew through the trees, ruffling hair and feathers while the four of them were left alone with their own thoughts. Hardly any sound from the outside world managed to work its way to their ears, but despite the calm of the trees, lounging lazily in the afternoon light as they had for decades, the atmosphere surrounding the bench was the opposite.

"Are you scared?" Natsuko's voice startled even herself when it broke the silence.

"Yes," Teiko replied, in a voice so soft, she would not have been heard if they were walking down the street. Once Cure Albireo had shown up, the fears she had from before had slipped away, because despite her outwards display of independence, Teiko was subconsciously elated by the fact that there was someone else; she just did not know how to express it.

"I am, too," Natsuko said. Her sad smile was a window into the fear she had just admitted to. Shun. What a strange situation. She would gladly do anything for his safety, but still had to remain safe herself. A life without the other would be unbearable for either.

Natsuko reached across the bench and placed her hand lightly on top of Teiko's. Teiko's heart lept, but she remained still, despite the surprise. The feeling was not uncomfortable, but to someone who often shied away from it, the touch was startling and somewhat foreign. Natsuko's fingers folded around Teiko's and squeezed, reassuringly. Teiko did not return the gesture, but thought she heard a faint sob from the other girl.

Natsuko stood up, releasing Teiko's hand, taking a deep breath and stretching. "I have to go to dance now, Teiko."

Teiko also rose, brushing her skirt down in the process. "Ok," was all she could say.

"Well be in touch, ok? Message me sometime." Natsuko picked up her bag and held it open for Pai, who climbed in. "See you tomorrow?"

Teiko took a moment to realize that Natsuko's last sentence was not a statement, but in fact, a question. "Ok," she said again.

"Great! Bye now!" Natsuko's face beamed as she started walking away. Teiko stared after her, then collected her own bag and Zeta and turned towards her apartment.

* * *

A hot bath can cure all. But even that night, Teiko could still feel a tingle where Natsuko had touched her hand. Despite the heat, Teiko shivered.

(Is this what it means to rely on someone?)

* * *

Saturday came around, bringing with it more normality. Teiko and Natsuko ate breakfast with their respective families, left their homes and traveled to school. Once there, they attended class, chatted with classmates and packed up. School was only a half day on Saturday, so once done, Teiko made her way to the gate, not sure of where else she would meet Natsuko. She had been quieter than usual during class, but no one seemed to notice. Thoughts of Pretty Cure floated through her head, going as far as pushing aside the lesson she was supposed to be learning at times.

"Hey, hello?" Natsuko said, waving her hand in front of Teiko's glasses. Teiko startled; she had been daydreaming about her new responsibilities, what they meant now and for the future, and how things would turn out.

"Sorry, I was thinking," Teiko said embarrassedly, running one hand through her hair.

"You shouldn't do so much of that!" Natsuko was all smiles, but Teiko felt a weight in her stomach. Natsuko noticed this and commented. "Hey now, are you ok? You look sick."

Teiko shook her head. "Too much thinking." Though she gave Natsuko a fake smile, her feelings had not changed.

"We should do something about that. It's Saturday, so let's go out! Have you eaten yet?" Teiko shook her head again, but in honesty, did not feel very hungry. "OK! Let's go to the old shopping arcade. You know the ramen shop there? I looooove their stuff. I'll even treat."

"Ok," Teiko said, even though she had brought a lunch, and waited for Natsuko to lead. When she remained in place, Teiko looked away awkwardly.

"Stop thinking!" Teiko was suddenly jolted forward, and her glasses slid down her nose. Natsuko had started walking, and slapped her on the back as she passed. "What did I tell you about that?" she said, walking backwards, away from the school. Her first inclination was to be mad, but Teiko smothered it, instead deciding Natsuko might be right.

Teiko pulled out her phone and quickly sent a message to her mother, stating her plans to hang out with Natsuko, then put it away again and took a deep breath. With lungs full of crisp, fall air, Teiko could feel stress rolling off of her. Natsuko had stopped a way ahead of her, so Teiko half jogged to catch up.

"Alright, let's go!" Natsuko said.

Perfect blue sky and bright noon sun made for a beautiful day, so the two decided to walk from school to the shopping arcade. There were several blocks between the two locations, but their jackets and the sunlight kept the chill at bay.

"So what do you like to do, Teiko?" Natsuko said, hands holding her bag behind her back. "We didn't get as much time to talk yesterday as I thought we would."

Teiko thought about her response for a few steps. "I like to play video games."

"Oh yeah? On your phone?" Natsuko said, before Teiko could continue.

"Uh, well, there is a phone version of the one I like, but my phone can't play it."

"That's too bad." Natsuko paused. "I like playing games on my phone. Maybe too much! Hee hee." She gave a mischievous grin and they walked a few more steps. "What else?"

"I read a lot of books." Teiko deliberately hesitated, but Natsuko did not interrupt this time. "I like spending time with my family."

"Me too! Well, my brother, at least. My mom is kind of a pain, you know?"

"Oh."

"I mean, she means well, but sometimes it's just like she's too overprotective. I love her, but…" Natsuko's eyes fell a little as she trailed off. Teiko noticed and stepped in so she would not have to go on.

"I have two sisters. My older sister, Ayumi, is 18. She's going to be going to college next year. And my younger sister, Harumi, is 10."

"That sounds cool; having sisters of different ages. Sometimes it's hard to be a twin. Oh, did I mention that before? My brother and I are twins."

"That's interesting."

"Yeah, I'm 41 minutes older than him." Natsuko grinned. "We're pretty much best friends, though. And his name is Shun." Teiko nodded her understanding, but did not say anything. "Oh!" With a surprised look on her face, Natsuko stopped suddenly, then Teiko did, too. Natsuko looked around sheepishly. "Uh, I guess I should tell you. Shun knows about me being a Pretty Cure." The budding sense of openness that had been growing inside of Teiko closed quickly at this revelation. "I forgot until just now. He saw our fight with the dragons. He was inside, so he wasn't affected by whatever they were doing." Natsuko sensed her companion's apprehension and quickly added. "I didn't tell him about you, though! He asked who the other Cure was, but I didn't know if you would be ok with him knowing, so I didn't tell him." Teiko felt that bud begin to open again, touched by Natsuko's thoughtfulness. She had not expected that anyone else would know about Pretty Cure yet, but to hear that Natsuko had kept her secret caused her respect for Natsuko to increase.

"Thank you. I, I'm not sure I want to tell anyone yet," Teiko said.

"I understand." Another pause in the conversation.

"So, what do you like to do?" Teiko dared ask.

Going into a twirl and leaping gracefully, Natsuko said, "I am a dancer." Teiko was impressed, and rightfully so, as Natsuko's moves were indeed professional. She smiled upon seeing Teiko's face light up, and, taking it as a cue for more, proceeded to perform, as well as can be expected, encumbered with a school bag, and all. Teiko watched with rapt attention, clapping excitedly at the end.

"That was amazing, Akiyama-san!"

Natsuko blinked; that was the first time Teiko had addressed her outside of Cure form.

"Hey!" came an angry shout, from inside Natsuko's bag. Pai forced his head out of the top and said, "Careful with all that jumping around and stuff! I'm in here, you know!"

"Sorry, Pai!" Natsuko said, rubbing the back of her head. Turning to Teiko, she waved her hand in front of her face, saying, "No, no, you don't have to be so formal! I'm just Natsuko, that's all."

"Sorry, I was just showing respect for my sempai," Teiko apologized.

At the word "sempai," Natsuko was taken even further aback than at having been called "Akiyama-san." She was about to ask what Teiko was talking about when she remembered the conversation from yesterday: "I'm Teiko Hakucho, 13, and in class 2-2."

"That's right, you are only 13. How did you get into our grade? Shouldn't you be a first year?" She said, as they resumed walking.

"Yeah, my birthday is in December, which was supposed to be too late to start school that year, but my parents argued with the school board to get me in a early."

"Wow, are you a genius?" Natsuko said.

Teiko looked away and laughed a little. "I don't think I'm a genius. Just smart."

"Hey, what are you doing in literature right now? Do you think you could tutor us? Shun didn't understand it, either."

"Uh, I don't know; I've never tutored anyone before."

"You should come over sometime. We can do homework together."

Teiko saw right through Natsuko's plan. There was nothing in it for her... Except that now they were both Pretty Cure and maybe she really should get to know Natsuko. She was nice. Besides, Teiko did not often get a chance to go out with friends, and they were closer to acquaintances than to true friends.

"I'll think about it," she said, not committing to anything yet, but her smile said she definitely leaned in one direction.

"Yay! Now let's get that ramen! I'm starving!" Natsuko cried, flinching inwardly at her choice of words.

"Un!" Teiko agreed, her eyes twinkling behind the frames of her glasses.

The rest of the walk was spent making other small talk about school and the like, and soon the duo found themselves at the entrance to the shopping arcade.

"Come on! It's just down here!" Natsuko lead the way, turning down an alley which Teiko had never traversed before. In this dark and slightly damp corridor was a small ramen shop. Natsuko walked in, followed by Teiko. She then followed Natsuko's lead and sat at the counter, setting her bag on the floor in front of the stool. Natsuko recommended and ordered two steaming-hot bowls of ramen for them. She dug in with an impressive level of gusto and was finished much before Teiko, who wondered if her own bowl was actually a portal to the noodle dimension. She noticed Natsuko eyeing it even before she was done, so once Teiko reached her limit, she slid the bowl down the counter to her companion. Where did she put it all?

As promised, Natsuko paid at the end of the meal and lead Teiko back to the main road of the shopping arcade. The two girls walked from store to store, looking for nothing in particular. A few stores down the road, a noise from her bag caused Teiko to peer inside.

"I'm hungry, Teiko."

"Ok, just a minute." Teiko looked around for someplace to sit while Natsuko, who was standing next to her in an attempt to keep anyone else from seeing what was in the bag, looked crestfallen. "There," Teiko said, pointing to a bench. When she saw Natsuko's expression, she asked what the matter was.

"I forgot about them," she said, pointing to her bag.

Teiko just smiled. "It's ok, I brought a lunch, so they can share it. Let's go sit down."

"Our savior!" Zeta said with tears of joy streaming down his face.

"You're so dramatic," Teiko said, and closed the bag on him.

Teiko and Natsuko sat down on the empty bench and set their bags upright between them. Thusly hidden from view, the two swans enjoyed Teiko's lunch.

"So I guess I should pay you back for lunch," Teiko said, a little embarrassed.

"What? No way." Natsuko waved her hand. "I know you're not a mooch. You don't seem that way. Besides, we'll end up buying each other lunches and stuff all the time, so it'll balance out."

A boy ran through the crowd.

She was not about to bring it up, because it would be an awkward question, but Teiko wondered if Natsuko considered them friends.

I still haven't decided yet.

Someone else ran by, then another person. Teiko and Natsuko looked at each other, then in the direction from which the runners came. The frightened screams which now emanated from down the road were almost drowned out by the sound of her heart pounding in her ears.

"Let's go," Natsuko said, voice slightly wavering. She was already standing.

"Sorry, Zeta, you'll have to finish it later." Zeta stuffed two more wingfulls of rice into his beak, which he could no longer close, then gave her a feathery thumbs up. Teiko quickly repacked the contents of her bag, Zeta included, then stood as well. Natsuko, with Pai in the bag she carried, nodded; Teiko nodded back.

By this time, there was a venerable crush, and the two girls found it difficult to advance through the frantic crowd. So instead, they went with the flow and slipped down the alley where the ramen shop was located. Swinging around the corner onto the next street over, where there were much fewer people, they ran in the direction of the disturbance.

There was no doubt about it; the closer they got, the stronger the oppressive feeling of dread got. At one intersection, they turned back towards the shopping arcade and came upon the source of the panic.

Before a group of cowering shoppers, stood a Chaos Dragon.

The swans popped out of the girls' bags and flapped to the ground.

"How many are there?" exclaimed Zeta.

The Chaos Dragon heard, and turned towards them. This dragon had green scales and bright red spikes from the crown of its head, down its back and all the way to the tip of its tail. The military uniform was identical to Arbo's, with the exception of having holes cut in it to accommodate its wearer's spikes. Green eyes glared at them from over a short snout with long, serrated fangs.

Teiko and Natsuko, with grim faces, pulled out their brooches and set their feet.

"Yo hold on babes I gotta finish setting this Chaos Energy collector up," the dragon said.

Teiko's jaw dropped open and hung there. "Whaaaat?!" screamed Natsuko, taking offence to being called a 'babe.' "No, that's exactly why we're here, so that you don't!"

The Chaos Dragon turned a switch before facing the two girls again. "Aww man why you gotta be like that?"

Natsuko screamed in frustration and held her brooch out in front of her. "That's it! Teiko, let's teach this guy a lesson!" Two arms shot up into the air.

"Precure Take Flight!"

A flash of light obscured their figures from view, but when it dissipated, Cure Deneb and Cure Albireo stood in their place.

"Outshining the sun, the tail that maintains balance, Cure Deneb!"

"Two bright eyes in the darkness! The beak which leads the attack! Cure Albireo!"

Cure Albireo pointed a finger at the Chaos Dragon, said, "You're going down, jerk!" and launched herself at him. In a laid back, unexpectedly fluid motion, the Chaos Dragon turned away Albireo's punch, and her momentum carried her past him. Cure Deneb tried next, coming at him from the other side, but again, he just dodged it.

"Ah wait man I forgot to turn it on." The Chaos Dragon simply walked away from the fight like it was not even his business, pressed a button, and the machine hummed to life. Immediately, the strange mist that had been present during the fight with Arbo began rising from the terrified group of shoppers, cowering in the road on the far side of the Chaos Dragon.

Deneb charged again, this time, stopping in front of the dragon, to trade blows face to face, but Albireo had been following right behind, and ran into the back of Deneb when she stopped. She grunted as they collided, but quickly sidestepped to the left, so Deneb went right.

The Chaos Energy collecting device began making a beeping sound.

Albireo and Deneb both charged, from opposite sides, but the Chaos Dragon stepped up to meet Albireo, evaded her punch again, this time, grabbing her wrist and tossing her into Deneb. The two Cures tumbled on the pavement, but got up quickly.

Albireo was the first to attack again, actually engaging the Chaos Dragon, as Cure Deneb had tried at first, instead of just being brushed aside. The two combatants both blocked each other's punches as they got a feel for the other. Deneb, who thought she had snuck around behind the Chaos Dragon, came in with a kick. He was more attentive than she gave him credit for, though, since just before her kick was going to land, he spun away, making a full 360-degree rotation and placing his own kick in Deneb's back, knocking her into Albireo again.

"Come on!" Cure Albireo shouted at her partner.

"I didn't run into you!" Cure Deneb defended.

"Just stay out of my way!"

Meanwhile, the Chaos Dragon had walked over to the machine collecting Chaos Energy.

"Sweet timing man," he said, raising his hand to a small, black vortex which was opening to his side. Out of the vortex, he pulled an egg that size of a fist, then approached the Chaos Energy collector. He opened a door in the side of it and stuck the egg inside. The beeping stopped.

A moment later, he reopened the door, removed the now glowing egg, turned towards the Cures and threw it at them. Deneb and Albireo split to avoid the egg, but once it hit the ground, a huge cloud of smoke billowed out , concealing a large, vague shape. When it blew away, a dark grey Konton stood in front of them.

"Konton!"

Cure Deneb and Cure Albireo were now caught between the Konton and the Chaos Dragon. Zeta and Pai flew over to meet them and give some direction.

"You really have to work together!" Zeta said. Albireo and Deneb looked at each other, both somewhat upset with the other, but knew it was true.

"Before the Chaos Dragons showed up, you were getting along so well," Pai added. "This is new to both of you, but you have to understand that the only way you can hope to win is to work together! There are three confirmed Chaos Dragons and they can summon those Konton things, so you're outnumbered! If you go alone, you will both fall individually." The other three stared at Pai, not having expected something like that from him.

"You take the Konton," Albireo said. "I'll fight this guy."

"That guy? Ah man you do me wrong. I'll have you know I'm Salu the Green Dragon the third strongest warrior in the Chaos Dragons."

"What?" Cure Deneb said in confusion, causing Cure Albireo to look over. "I thought Arbo was the third strongest."

"He said that ah man he's nothing I'm where it's at."

"Whatever! Let's just take these guys out!" Cure Albireo said, running towards Salu. Cure Deneb turned to the Konton.

Albireo and Salu threw punches at each other, none of them reaching their intended targets, as they were about equally quick. Albireo jumped back.

"Ha speaking of nothing that's you," Salu taunted.

(If I could just do that laser attack...)

Another charge, and Salu sidestepped the punch and roundhouse kicked Albireo in the back, sending her sprawling on the pavement, which, miraculously did not result in road rash.

Meanwhile, Deneb struggled with the Konton. In addition to being fast and ten meters tall, the dragon also had the advantage of a tail, which it used to attack as well as balance. Deneb could not get close to its back, and its fists and feet proved hard to dodge. Deneb was knocked into a shop stand, sending the merchandise flying everywhere.

Deneb felt bad about the damaged goods, but had to move, as the Konton pressed on.

(I can't get the upper hand!)

"No! Team up! Team up! Both of you take on one of them!" Zeta shouted.

"Then what about the other? Are they just going to sit around and wait their turn?" Cure Albireo responded angrily. Salu's massive fist cuffed Albireo on the side of the head, knocking her off her feet.

"Albireo!" Deneb shouted.

"Pay attention!" Albireo replied, getting back up. Deneb turned back just in time to see the Konton kicking out at her and she ducked. Deneb moved in, but the Konton twisted around and flicked its tail. Deneb got her arms up in time, but was still thrown backwards down the street from the blow.

The Konton swept its tail around again, similar to what the first Konton did, and recognising this, Deneb read the attack. Because she did not have to think about dodging, she was free to concentrate on a counter, which she did by leaping over the tail and landing in the Konton's blind spot. She aimed a kick at the dragon's massive knee and when her foot impacted it, the leg buckled. Deprived of its support, even the additional stability provided by the tail could not keep it upright.

"Albireo! Switch!" Deneb shouted, surprising even herself with this order. But switch they did, and Albireo came rocketing in to deliver a devastating kick before the Konton even hit the ground.

"You think you can turn your back on me," Salu said from behind, but he was intercepted by Deneb before he could reach Albireo, and, taken by surprise, Deneb's flying kick sent him crashing into another store.

The Konton was beginning to get up from where it fell in the road. Albireo was about to advance, but she heard her companion shout again. Deneb was running towards her with a determined look in her eyes. "Albireo! Let's finish this!"

Without any prior experience, as before, the two Cures came together and shouted in unison,

"Precure Option α!"

Aiming towards the Konton and standing directly behind Albireo, Deneb performed her Illumination, but the light was drawn to, and absorbed by Albireo's Twin Parallel Laser, creating larger, more powerful beams to pierce the Konton.

With a cry of "Konton!" the forenamed monster glowed brightly before exploding into a grey red smoke.

"Oh man they're for real," Salu said, then slipped into the shadow of an alley. Like after their first victory, any damage to the storefronts vanished, the red mist of Chaos Energy dissipated and the people from who it was being harvested fell asleep.

Cure Deneb and Cute Albireo looked at each other, both breathing heavily, but pleased with their efforts.

"Yes! You did it!" shouted Pai.

The shoppers were beginning to stir, so Deneb motioned for Albireo and the swans to leave the area. Once safely out of sight in a different alley than Salu escaped to, the two Cures reverted back to their civilian forms. Still shaking from fear, heavy exertion, adrenalin and excitement, Teiko and Natsuko laughed together.

"We did it. We can do this!" Natsuko said.

"I can't believe it," Teiko said, removing her glasses to wipe away small tears from the corners of her eyes.

They could hear disoriented, confused talk from the main street, but left the alley in the opposite direction to avoid being caught up in the questioning. As they walked away, they chatted.

"I'm so glad we were able to win. Doesn't that make you feel good?"

Teiko nodded. "Maybe we should practice. I heard that playing those dancing games in the arcade can help raise people's synchronization levels."

"What? Where did you hear that?" Natsuko asked.

Teiko turned pink and looked away. "Oh, it was on TV or a DVD or something," she said.

Natsuko giggled. "I don't think we need to sync up, exactly. I think we need to spend more time together, get to know and be more comfortable with each other."

"Yeah, that sounds good."

(I can rely on her,) Teiko thought.

"So much for our afternoon shopping," Natsuko lamented. "Well, we could go uptown."

"Ok," Teiko said, then, "Yeah, let's go uptown. There's a good arcade there. They have some dancing games." She smiled jokingly at Natsuko, who returned the smile and elbowed her gently.

"You."

* * *

Together, the two new friends found their way uptown, where they enjoyed an afternoon of browsing shops and relaxing after working hard all morning. But their journey had only just begun and there were many more challenges that awaited the Northern Cross Pretty Cure…

* * *

Next episode:

"Hi, I'm Natsuko!"

"And I'm Teiko!"

"What an exciting episode!"

"Yes, we're lucky to have gotten through that."

"But there's more ahead! Those Chaos Dragons got away!"

"Next time on…"

(together)

"Futari wa Pretty Cure Northern Cross!"

"Northern Cross Pre- what?"

"I thought…"

"Wait, who's that?"

* * *

Ending song: ganBALANCE de Dance, N.C.P.C. ver.


End file.
